Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater is about 35 miles from Sedona, just north of Flagstaff.  It is what they call a cinder volcano.  Most volcanoes are mountains that blow their top off like Mt. St. Helens or just spew lava from the top.  Cinder volcanoes like Sunset Crater start out on flat ground and slowly built up as the lava spews up from beneath the surface.  It erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100 and is 1,000' high. Lava, ash and soot were blown over an 800 square mile area.  As you will see by the photos, life has returned, but in many areas, it still looks like it did after it went inactive.  Eerie is a good word to describe the landscape.  

A field of lava cinders.

No, the trees on the horizon are not two-toned. I don't know whythey came out like that.  Maybe the angle of the sun.

Sunset Crater in the background.  You used to be able to climb to the top, but so much damage was being done, the Park Service put a stop to it. 

If it weren't for the trees, you would have to wonder where I was.

Humpfreys Peak in the background.  It is also a volcano similar to Mt St. Helens. They estimate it was 16,000' when it blew its top. It is now 12,637'.

A spatter cone.   It was formed the same way bubbles form in cooked pudding just before it is done.

The other side of Sunset Crater.


Leaving the monument. The painted desert isin the background.