Strawberry Crater Trail

A volcanic cinder cone and lava flow form the centerpiece of the 10,141 acre Strawberry Crater Wilderness. Though the area last erupted around the time that knighthood was about to flower in Europe, the volcanic features you'll see here look as if they had happened much more recently. Molten rock frozen in time still shows scrape marks left as it squeezed up through cracks in the cooler surface. Petrified bubbles of once boiling stone look as fresh as the sparse vegetation that struggles for a foothold on this rugged moonscape. On the horizon, O'Leary Peak, Black Crater, and the Painted Desert add another dimension to the view.

Photo taken December 6, 2017 by Deborah Lee Soltesz. Credit U.S. Forest Service Coconino National Forest. For trail and recreation information, see Strawberry Crater Trail in Red Strawberry Crater Wilderness on the Coconino National Forest.