Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Coconino County, Arizona — The American Mountains (Southwest)

As Powerful as a Volcano

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., November 8, 2010

1. As Powerful as a Volcano Marker

Inscription.
Cinder cones erode easily and scars are slow to heal. In 1973, Sunset Crater was closed to climbing when 2-foot-wide trails eroded to 60-foot-wide swaths. Tons of cinder were shoveled back up the cone to fill hip-deep trenches. Notice the scars still visible today.

Plants will eventually return to areas where cinders are left undisturbed. Walking in barren areas dislodges soil particles forming between the cinders. Give plants a chance; stay on the trail.

What if...
...Flagstaff residents hadn't stopped a movie company from dynamiting Sunset Crater in 1928?

What if it wasn't protected today?

Outside the park, other cinder cones are dismantled for building and landscaping materials.

Human activities can level a mountain almost as fast as nature can create one.

Erected by National Park Service.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features. A significant historical year for this entry is 1973.

Location. 35° 21.752′ N, 111° 31.004′ W. Marker is in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona, in Coconino County. It can be reached from Lava Flow Trail. Marker is along the Lava Flow Trail boardwalk . Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Flagstaff AZ 86004, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Flagstaff & High Country

and in Hopi.

It is also in the American Southwest,

in the Mountain West,

in Colorado Plateau,

and at the Four Corners.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least

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8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Life and Landscape Transformed (within shouting distance of this marker); The Power to Symbolize (within shouting distance of this marker); Changes to Come (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Birth of a Mountain (about 300 feet away); "The Peaks" (approx. 2.3 miles away); Geological Infant (approx. 2.3 miles away); Route 66 Trail (approx. 10.3 miles away); The Mother Road (approx. 10.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.

Also see . . . Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. (Submitted on April 13, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., November 8, 2010

2. As Powerful as a Volcano Marker

Looking toward the cinder cone

Sunset Crater Volcano Photo on Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Unknown, 1940

3. Sunset Crater Volcano Photo on Marker

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., 1970

4. Sunset Crater Volcano Photo on Marker

Sunset Crater Volcano image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, May 28, 2002

5. Sunset Crater Volcano

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on April 13, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 870 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 13, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. 5. submitted on April 14, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.