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This page last updated on 12/12/2017
Driving Directions: From Flagstaff take US-89 north for 12 miles. Turn right at the sign for Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki National Monuments. The drive time from Flagstaff is 20-25 minutes. It is located along the 34-mile scenic loop road that runs through open meadows, beautiful ponderosa pine trees, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, juniper grasslands with views of the Painted Desert, and the open red rock landscape of the Wupatki Basin. Description: Sunset Crater is a cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field) that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks. The date of the eruptions that formed the 340-meter-high cone (1,120 ft) was initially derived from tree-ring dates, suggesting the eruption began between the growing seasons of A.D. 1064–1065. However, more recent geologic and archaeological evidence places the eruption around A.D. 1085. The largest vent of the eruption, Sunset Crater itself, was the source of the Bonito and Kana-a lava flows that extended about 1.6 miles NW and 6 miles NE, respectively. Additional vents along a 10-kilometer-long fissure (6.2 miles) extending SE produced small spatter ramparts and a 4 mile-long lava flow to the east. The Sunset Crater eruption produced a blanket of ash and lapilli covering an area of more than 810 sq miles and forced the temporary abandonment of settlements of the local Sinagua people. The volcano has partially revegetated, with pines and wildflowers. The crater is the namesake for the Sunset Crater Beardtongue (Penstemon clutei). Since the last eruption of the volcano is a recent occurrence, it is considered dormant by volcanologists.
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