INDEPENDENCE — Consistently positive visitor comments have earned high scores and a 2013 certificate of excellence from a global travel website for Manzanar National Historic Site (MNHS), it was announced May 22 by TripAdvisor.
The award places Manzanar among the top-performing 10 percent of all destinations listed on the website.
“The grounds give you a feel of what the Japanese Americans suffered in World War II,” wrote a visitor from Utah whose review was posted on TripAdvisor recently. “The short video and the displays brought tears to my eyes when I realized what Americans could do to fellow Americans. What a lesson to be learned.”
A traveler from Vancouver, British Columbia noted, “This site is very well laid out and informative, and the staff really do make an effort to help you. My son did the Junior Ranger program, which was very good, and he has also learned a lot about this area of American history.”
Of 74 reviews quoted on the website, 56 rated Manzanar as “excellent,” and 18 gave it a “very good” rating.
MNHS, operated by the National Park Service, is undergoing expansion that will add a replicated residential section with interpretive displays — Block 14 — and will include two barracks, mess hall, men’s and women’s latrines, ironing room, and laundry room.
Most recently, the former wartime camp was the setting for the 44th annual pilgrimage presented by the Manzanar Committee.
Located approximately 230 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Manzanar is at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California’s Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine and Independence. To see the review, click here.