Soon We’ll Have Two Newly Expanded National Monuments (And They’re Easy to Get to)

President Joe Biden has been restoring many of the protected parklands that President Obama designated during his terms, starting with the The Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Western Colorado in 2022. And now, he’s set to expand two national monuments in California. The first is in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles, and the other spans the rolling hillsides north of Napa Valley. It’s anticipated that the official announcement of the expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument will be made official in the coming weeks.

These restored designations will no doubt be a win for conservationists, with the hopes that it will increase access to nature for all. The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument will grow by about 110,000 acres and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument by about 13,000 acres. They were first designated by President Obama in 2017.

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Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument takes in 331,000 acres in Northern California’s Inner Coast Range, running from due east of the Napa Valley all the way north into the wilds of Mendocino County. It lies relatively close to major population centers of the Bay Area, the Sacramento Valley and California wine country, but remains indisputably rugged and pristine. The peak that gives the monument its name, Snow Mountain, is 7,000 feet high, and the area is resplendent with chaparral, oak foothills, and pine-dotted higher slopes.

The San Gabriel Mountains are also a wonderful source of recreation for Angelenos. Perhaps most noted for being the snow-capped peaks behind Los Angeles while driving on the Highway 10 East, these mountain ranges provide excellent hiking just outside the city, complete with rugged landscapes and waterfalls. And, bonus, there are excellent Asian-American cuisines to be sampled in the San Gabriel Valley after your outdoor adventure.

In addition to the Camp Hale-Continental Divide and these two expanded California National Monuments, Biden also established new national monuments in Nevada and Texas. The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument (also known as Spirit Mountain, just two hours outside Las Vegas in Southern Nevada) is considered to be among the most sacred places on Earth by the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people, among other tribes, many of whom considered it their spiritual birthplace. Castner Range National Monument, in El Paso, Texas, was designated at the same time. Located on the grounds of Ft. Bliss, it offers opportunities to explore both nature and history, but remediation work is currently being done before the public will be able to access it.