Sunset Crater at Sunset

Another Arizonan National Monument

Sunset Crater is not so much a crater as an ancient volcano, once part of an active volcano filed spanning much of the south west.  A national monument just north of Flagstaff, it's adjacent to Wupatki National Monument, allowing visitors to make one loop form the interstate to visit both monuments.  While a small monument, it had some impressive features that left me agape with awe. 

Standing in front of Sunset Crater, the ancient volcano the monument is named for.

Geologists haven't figured out yet why a volcano filed existed in the middle of Arizona as it's not the typical location of most volcanos (near a tectonic plate boundary or over a hot spot).  In this way, Sunset Crater, much like Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands National Park, reminds us how geology is an active science still evolving its ideas and theories.

Catching the last rays of the day as I head into Sunset Crater National Monument.

Sunset Crater doesn't have a lot to offer as far as amazing vistas and invigorating hiking trails.  Much of the monument consists of turn outs for cars to pull into while their passengers snap photos.  What Sunset Crater does offer is an extensive lava flow with a short and fun hiking trail.

Hiking through the impressive lava flow at the base of Sunset Crater National Monument.

I wasn't overly enthused with Sunset Crater, until we drove past the lava flow field on the north side of the main road.  I'm pretty sure I yelped out loud when I saw the expanse of black and grey rock cutting through the green forest.  I could easily imagine the red hot blob of lava that black rock once was as it slid across the landscape killing all vegetation in its path.  I turned the car around and climbed out of the car and into the lava field.  A relatively short trail allowed me to penetrate into the heart of the flow, scrambling over sharp rocks, porous and dark.  

I'm off in the distance, a spec amongst the large lava flow at Sunset Crater.  

The trail through the lava flow only required a fifteen minute hike, and the sun was setting, and the temperature dropping.  It was November, and I had seen snow flurries falling earlier that day at Grand Canyon National Park.  So we continued on to our hotel in Flagstaff and the next morning to Walnut Canyon National Monument only a twenty minute drive away.