El Malpais National Monument
| El Malpais National Monument | |||
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| Location: | New Mexico , United States | ||
| Next city: | Grants (New Mexico) | ||
| Surface: | 443.6 km² | ||
| Founding: | December 31, 1987 | ||
| Visitors: | 143,515 (2004) | ||
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The El Malpais National Monument is under the administration of the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management -standing National Monument of the United States of America , which in the northwestern part of the US state of New Mexico a part of the Zuni-Bandera -Vulkanfelds with extinct volcanoes and protects cold lava fields . The name El Malpais (German "bad land") refers to the landscape of the park created by rugged lava flows.
The El Malpais National Monument is located south of the New Mexican town of Grants between the Indian reservations of Acoma and Zuni and has no central entrance. Access to the sights of the monument is possible via secondary roads and especially via Highway 117, on which there is also a ranger station . Not far from this is the Sandstome Bluffs lookout point , which on the east side of the monument provides the best view of the wide lava field and the Zuni Mountains across from it.
In the further course of the Highway 117 winds at the Narrows (road constriction) around an approximately 150 meter high sandstone cliff, the steep slopes of which the lava almost reached. Immediately in front of the Narrows is the La Ventana Natural Arch , a sandstone arch created by the weather with a span of 41 meters. The second largest natural arch in New Mexico is a short walk from a rest stop on Highway 117.
The only path through the lava field is the approximately eleven kilometers long Zuni-Acoma Trail , an old Indian trail that connected the Zuni and Acoma pueblos .
Web links
- National Park Service: El Malpais National Monument (official site; English)