Capulin Volcano National Monument
| Capulin Volcano National Monument | |||
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| Location: | United States | ||
| Next city: | Raton (New Mexico) | ||
| Surface: | 3.2 km² | ||
| Founding: | August 9, 1916 | ||
| Visitors: | 57,442 (2004) | ||
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The Capulin Volcano National Monument is a 1916 founded National Monument in the northeastern part of the US state of New Mexico , the Union County . It is administered by the National Park Service and protects the area around the Capulin volcano of the same name . It is located east of the Sangre de Cristo Range at the transition from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains - around 300 km northeast of Albuquerque (New Mexico) and 350 km southeast of Denver ( Colorado ).
Capulin is an extinct cinder cone in the Raton Clayton volcanic field , which arose over a hotspot around eight million years ago . The current shape of the volcanic cone was given during the last eruption around 60,000 years ago, which raised it to around 400 meters above the surrounding plateau and today reaches a summit height of 2,494 m .
The Capulin is one of the few volcanoes for which there is public access to the crater. From the visitor center of the national monument, a three-kilometer road that goes around the volcano leads to a parking lot on the crater rim. From there, a 1.5 km long trail (leading to the Cone Trail ), overlooking the snow-covered Sangre de Cristo Range, which forms behind the wide and traversed by volcanic hills plateau an imposing backdrop. Another path finally leads up to 130 meters deep into the interior of the Capulin.
See also
Web links
- National Park Service: Capulin Volcano National Monument (official site; English)