Sunset Crater Volcano National Park

Historic Stop #3 on Friday's marathon driving see-all-you-can-see adventure was at the Sunset Crater Volcano National Park, nine miles north of Flagstaff.

 Sunset Crater erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100 and is the most recent volcanic activity in the Flagstaff area. The eruption shaped more than 600 hills and mountains in the San Francisco volcanic field.

View of the San Francisco Peaks to the west of the volcanic preserve

The one peak has some snow on its north sunless side

These mountain peaks are also volcanos

This area has seen volcanic activity for six-million years

One of the 600 volcanic hills in the park preserve

The 1000 foot crater can no longer be climbed. The traffic of humans was affecting the plant and animal life that has been returning to the area. With the founding of Flagstaff (1876) settlers and visitors explored the lava flows taking rocks for souveniers. Filmmakers (in 1928) wanting to create a landslide in the area helped forced its protection. It became a national park in 1930, closing the volcano to thousands of climbers. The cone is slowly recovering. Plant and animal life are slowly returning.

 One of many lava beds

 Interesting lines on the lava flow

The leaves of the Aspen tree add color to the rather drab landscape

Interesting vertical & horizontal lines

 The walking path meandered at the base of the volcano and

along some of the volcanic hills

 A crevice created by the lava 

 Ponderosa Pine 

Some of the color variations 

Some of the cinders, large and small

The eruption may have lasted from 6 months to a year

Falling ash covered 800 sq. miles in northern AZ

Thousands of native farmers (Wupatki) were forced from the area

 A red volcanic hill

Other than iron deposits, I don't know why it is

red and all the others black

Scarlet gilia or skyrocket growing in a lava bed

Other nearby volcanoes, which are not in the park are mined 

for pumice and cinders or used for off-road recreation. 

And still others closer to Flagstaff are destroyed as developers make way for homes.

Thank goodness for the foresight of some to create a national park system

to preserve the work of nature before it was/is destroyed by man.

I would like to go back to this area because there were two national sites 

we did not visit on that Friday. Walnut Canyon and Wupatki are two 

Native American preserved areas that would be worth visiting in

the Flagstaff area. Next time.

Onto historic stop #4...