Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument

When we rode out of Mesquite, Nevada into Lime Kiln Canyon, we had no idea that the road was one of the gateways to a little known national monument.  The Grand Canyon – Parashant National Monument is located on the northern edge of the Grand Canyon in northwest Arizona. The monument was established by Bill Clinton’s Presidential Proclamation 7265 on January 11, 2000. 

Per the National Park Service web site, “This national monument is a very remote and undeveloped place jointly managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The 1,048,325-acre monument is larger than the state of Rhode Island.  There are no paved roads into the monument and no visitor services.”  Visitors must be prepared to leave pavement and cell service behind.  Pets are allowed, as are off-road vehicles.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle with off-pavement tires is strongly recommended to handle the rocky roads.  You can get visitor information at the BLM office in St. George, Utah.

Near the Lime Kiln Canyon Entrance

According to the Grand Canyon Trust (www.grandcanyontrust.org), “Much of the monument remains unexplored, with only five percent of the protected land having been surveyed. You can see remnants of ranching, mining, and timber cutting at sites like Tassi Ranch, Nixon Sawmill, and Pa’s Pocket Line Shack. But human history here dates back much further. Thousands of archaeological sites—petroglyphs, artifacts, agave roasting pits, pueblos—document the cultures and lifestyles of the Ancestral Puebloan and Southern Paiute cultures. The monument’s name derives from an early translation of a Paiute family name “Parashonts,” meaning “elk or large deer standing in water.”

Jacob's Well

Grand Canyon – Parashant is one of the 21 National Monuments to be evaluated under President Trump’s Executive Order 13792.  So far, its acreage has not been reduced – at least, not as far as I have been able to find online.  Maybe it’s too remote for mining and timber cutting to be economically practical.  We saw evidence that grazing is still permitted at a site marked “Jacob’s Well.” 

The nearest towns to the monument are St. George, Utah, Fredonia, Arizona, and as it turns out, Mesquite, Nevada.  The road into the monument from Mesquite is completely passable in a 4WD vehicle.  I don’t recommend driving the sedan.  But if you’re a fan of beautiful desert wilderness, I do recommend Grand Canyon – Parashant National Monument.