Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Ubehebe Crater
Death Valley National Park
Photographed by Craig Baker, April 2, 2025
1. Ubehebe Crater Marker
Before you is vivid evidence of one of the geologic forces that shapes Death Valley. Unlike most geologic features, the age of Ubehebe Crater (u-bee hee-bee) is measured in thousands rather than millions of years; it is about 2,000 years old.
Recipe for Explosion:
Rising magma hot, molten rock turns groundwater to steam. Intense steam pressure builds until the superheated combination of steam and rock explodes, creating a crater like this one.
The explosion spewed shattered rock over a six-square-mile area, in some places to depths of 150 feet. Ubehebe is the largest of many explosion craters in the area. Ubehebe Crater is a half-mile across and about 500 feet deep.
photo caption:
To the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley this crater is Wosa Coyotes burden basket the place where the people emerged to spread in four directions across the land.
Erected by National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features.
Location. 37° 0.65′ N, 117° 27.289′ W. Marker is in Death Valley National Park, California,
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in California’s Sierra Nevada. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 2 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Racetrack (approx. Ό mile away); Scottys Castle (approx. 5 miles away).
Also see . . . Ubehebe Crater. We often hear mistakenly that "Ubehebe" means "big basket", but the Paiute name Ubehebe was first applied to the 5,678 ft. Ubehebe Peak, 24 miles southwest of the crater. How the name Ubehebe became associated with the crater is not known. To the Timbisha Shoshone Indians, the crater has been
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 23, 2014
2. Ubehebe Crater Marker
Photographed by Craig Baker, April 2, 2025
3. Ubehebe Crater and Marker
Photographed by Craig Baker, April 2, 2025
4. Ubehebe Crater
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 23, 2014
5. Ubehebe Crater
Credits. This page was last revised on April 2, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 20, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,068 times since then and 88 times this year. Last updated on February 26, 2021, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. Photos: 1. submitted on April 2, 2025, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 2. submitted on May 21, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 3. submitted on May 5, 2024, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 4. submitted on April 2, 2025, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 5. submitted on May 21, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
