Sunset Crater - Flagstaff, AZ
Posted by: 
Rayman
N 35° 21.773 W 111° 31.055
12S E 452978 N 3913409
Sunset Crater is the main attraction within Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It last erupted around 1100 A.D.
Waymark Code: WM8N8E
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 04/22/2010
Views: 12
From
Arizona: A Guide to the State as part of Tour 1 (US 89):
SUNSET CRATER, 4.2 m., has a foot trail winding up the side (round trip takes about one hour). The crest of the crater rises 8,000 feet above sea level, 1,000 feet above the country at its base, and has a pit about 1300 feet in diameter and 400 feet deep. The name was suggested by its many colors, bright yellow at the crest, shading into orange, red, and finally a skirt of black volcanic ash. The crater spouted great quantities of black ash which completely engulfed Indian pueblos, very much as Vesuvius covered Pompeii. The area abounds with fossils of various marine animals, evidence of the great sea that once covered this region.
Sunset Crater Volcano erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100 A.D. The trials to the top of the volcano were closed by the National Park Service in 1973 because of excessive erosion. Foot traffic and erosion had turned the trail into a hip-deep rut. Despite intensive efforts to obliterate the trail, the scar is still clearly visible on the volcano's side.
Today, a paved trail leads to near the base of the volcano. A higher terrain one-mile loop trail leads much closer to the base of the volcano through a lava field. Admission to the park is $5.