Meteor Crater
4.4(16K)google
3.5(705)yelp
GeologyNature
Overview
Formed nearly 50,000 years ago by a massive nickel-iron meteorite impacting the Earth, this breathtaking structure is recognized as the best-preserved meteorite impact crater on our planet. Spanning nearly a mile across and plunging over 550 feet deep, the site features a state-of-the-art visitor center, outdoor observation platforms, guided rim tours, and immersive cinematic theaters detailing how this desolate desert scar provided critical geological training for Apollo astronauts.
Practical Info
Every day8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Suggested Duration2-3 hours
Best TimeYear-round. Because the whole crater sits alone in the center of the great plains, the outdoor wind is usually extremely strong. It's highly recommended to go before 10 a.m. to join the [Rim Tour, a clifftop historical walking tour led by geology experts, fully included in the official ticket]
Getting ThereRight next to Exit 233 on I-40, the old Route 66. It's about a 35-minute drive east on the highway from Flagstaff, and the crater's high-tech space center offers a very spacious, completely free large parking garage
Travel Tips
- This is one of the [most complete and pristine giant meteorite impact sites] discovered on Earth so far; about 50,000 years ago a 300,000-ton iron-nickel meteorite slammed into the surface at tens of thousands of miles per hour, releasing energy thousands of times that of an atomic bomb
- The entire crater is up to 1.2 kilometers (about 4,000 feet) in diameter and 170 meters (about 570 feet) deep, big enough to fit 20 large standard American football fields on its floor at once, with rough basalt fault walls rising at the rim for an alien-surface contrast
- Because the geology here strikingly resembles lunar craters, in the 1960s this was the only hardcore full-simulation geological training base officially designated by NASA for Apollo program astronauts; a real Apollo space capsule is still displayed in the museum
Reviews
Positive
- An absolute paradise for tech veterans, sci-fi cosmos fans, and hardcore photographers! Standing on the clifftop overlook, looking through the high-power telescope at that boundlessly huge underground black hole and the American flag the astronauts planted on the crater floor back then, the sense of destruction from outer space is so stunning
- A high-caliber private science center! The 4D big-screen film and multimedia impact-simulation pod are done to modern Hollywood standards, and it's spotlessly clean. Being able to touch that real space iron meteorite—one of the largest in the U.S.—makes for an extremely hardcore, rich experience well worth the ticket
Heads up
- This is purely a scientific and geological viewing site; [under extremely strict safety and heritage rules, outside visitors are absolutely forbidden from walking down to the very bottom of the crater]. Also, since it's entirely privately operated, the ticket price is on the higher side compared to an ordinary state park