Our Expirence at Sunset Crater National Monument

By Jacob

Sunset Crater National Monument is located along Highway 89 half an hour north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The monument protects Sunset Crater, a cinder cone extinct volcano, the youngest of the San Francisco Lava Field. The last eruption was thought to be about 1075 years ago. The monument now protects the crater as well as the surrounding lava fields.

In June 2021 we paid a visit to Sunset Crater as part of our Arizona trip traveling from Grand Canyon National Park to Sedona, Arizona. Coming from Highway 89 we crossed the highway and entered a meadow area with a pullout with a beautiful view of Sunset Crater. The fee is $25 per motor vehicle, $20 per motorcycle and $15 for pedestrians or cyclists. Be sure to stop at the Sunset Crater National Monument Visitor Center for information about trails, park natural and human history or other questions about the surrounding area. We stopped to get our park stamps and ask about some short hikes. The ranger recommended that we do the A’a and Lava Flow trails. We followed the park loop road, that goes into Wupatki National Monument, to the A’a trailhead.

The A’a trail is very short, only .2 miles, but goes through the Bonito Lava Field that cooled 900 years ago. This was a super cool trail to see. Lava rocks were everywhere with their sharp edges and distinctive dark black color. It was a strange feeling to know that only a few centuries ago this would have all been lava coming from the looming Sunset Crater overhead. There were many small crevices in strange formations that you would not find in any other type of rock. It was very similar to being back in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The end of the loop was up this black sand hill that was the only challenging part of the trail.

Our next stop was the Lava Flow Trail on the right side of the road less than a mile from the A’a trail parking lot. This trail was a mile long and started on a paved loop with several exhibits explaining how Sunset Crater formed, the people living here and its eruption a millennia ago. This is an excellent place for much closer views of Sunset Crater. This trail also goes through lava rock as well as red and black sand. We were absolutely amazed by this strange place in the middle of Northern Arizona. To the west were also the beautiful San Francisco peaks, the highest point in the state at over 12,600 feet. The trail is pretty easy with a single metal staircase at the end.

We greatly enjoyed our short time in Sunset Crater National Monument. It is definitely worth a short stop to see this strange magical area. The park does not get a lot of visitors either so there is plenty of space to spread out.