America's Best History Spotlight

On this page we're going to Spotlight the lesser known historic sites and attractions that dot the history landscape across the USA and are worth a visit if you're in their area. And while they may be lesser known, some are very unique, and will be that rare find. You'll be, at times, on the ground floor, or maybe even know something others don't. It'll be fun. Visit them.

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon/California

When preserved in 2000, Cascade-Siskiyou became the first national monument dedicated to biodiversity, and its preservation attempts to strike a balance between the needs of the surrounding communities, recreation, and nature. It's one of the relatively few, twenty-eight in total as of 2021, national monuments that are run by the Bureau of Land Management, and not the National Park Service. No, that will not matter to most, but is a fact. Other facts that might matter more to some is the reason for the diversity; the range of elevation and habitat allows for more than two hundred species of birds. The views are diverse as well, ranging from Hobart Bluff to the nearly thirty-six miles of the Pacific Coast Trail to Hyatt Lake.

Image above: Wooded trail at Hobart Bluff in the Oregon section of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Kyle Sullivan. Courtesy Bureau of Land Management via Flickr, CC 2.0. Below: View at the Box O Ranch in the Soda Mountain Wilderness, 2019, Greg Shine. Courtesy Bureau of Land Management via Flickr, CC 2.0.

Where Is It

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is located seventeen miles southeast of Ashland, Oregon. There's no Visitor Center per se, but there is a contact station, open year round, at the Greensprings Inn that is staffed in the summer on weekends. That's just off the turnoff to the Hyatt Lake Access Road.