Amboy Crater

Article and pictures by Natasha Petrosova

Amboy Crater was recognized as a national Landmark in May 1973 for its geological and visual significance.  Although it is not unique Amboy crater is a great example of very symmetrical volcanic cinder cone.  

Amboy Crater is an extinct  cinder cone type of volcano that rises above 70 square kilometer lava field in Southern California.    It is located in Mojave desert of the old Route 66.     The cinder cone estimated to be 79, 000 years old.  The interior has a lava lake .  Lava flows are as old as Amboy Crater itself .  The last eruption was approximately 10,000 years ago.  Amboy Crater is one of the few extinct  volcanos along the Route 66 and the travelers from 1920s-1960s  could boast to their friends about climbing a real volcano.  After Interstate 40 was opened the visitor and tourist to this area had decreased .  

You should park your car a mile from the base. The recommended trail, according to the Bureau of Land Management, heads around the cone's western half, leading into the "breach." While it is not visible from the road, the breach, where lava burst through the newly formed fragile cone, allows easy access, via a gentle sloping path, into the cone's center.

Once inside, you can cross the center and climb to the top. Here, you will get a good picture of how this crater, which is 1,508 feet in diameter, was born.  First, lava exploded into the air, with the larger pieces falling immediately around the vent, breaking through where the breach is visible. Also noticeable inside the cone are small circles where later volcanic events occurred.  As you explore further , you'll notice that some of the rocks are porous, as you expect igneous rocks to be, but others are smooth, a phenomenon caused by the differing amount of steam held in the flowing lava. Also evident are lava "bombs," lava that was thrown out of the volcano and cooled during a flight to form egg-shaped rocks.

In this panorama, you may feel that you are the only human left on earth, but you are not.  Remember that Amboy is right  down the road.  But at the same time, you are most likely to be as close to solitude as you would ever be.