Want to know what to expect at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Arizona? Maybe you have never even heard of this park but I bet the name alone piques your interest. I know it did for us and while we were traveling out west one of the stops was the Grand Canyon National Park and we discovered an inactive volcano just down the road from the South Rim, so we knew we just had to add it to our adventures. What we discovered certainly erupted our imagination as we walked through the remains of the hardened lava flow that was nearly a thousand years old. 

We took an epic vacation that we called our Dream Trip, and it was by far the most ambitious adventure we have ever been on. Along the way, we wanted to see many of the places our family had been dreaming of seeing and this one was for our youngest daughter. Her ultimate dream was to go to Hawaii and walk among old lava flow but we haven’t been able to make that one work yet. However, we found the next best thing. Located in Flagstaff near the Grand Canyon is a little park called Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, and other than the name being a mouthful, it is also one of the most unique hikes in Arizona! The first thing we noticed was the black sand from the mountains to the pathways. This is made up of lava flow and volcanic cinder so you are quite literally walking right where the lava once was when you hike in the park. Since my daughter's dream was to go hiking on volcanoes we were happy to make that dream come true. 

She couldn’t have been happier and was elated as we got out of our car for the first hike. This small loop was called the A’ah Lava Trail and was my favorite one in the park. You walk among the lava rocks and can see where the liquid hot magma curled and maneuvered the landscape. There were large sections where the lava formed walls and otherworldly formations, everywhere we looked there was something interesting to find. The volcano erupted nearly one thousand years ago and still to this day you can walk in the aftermath of the disaster. Seeing the history and walking the paths laid out by the lava was a fascinating trip and ended up being one of the highlights of Arizona for us. 

With this short little loop, we got a great snapshot of what this park was all about, next up was the Lava Flow Trail. Located further in the park we got the chance to hike right at the base of the volcano itself. I found it fun to see the interpretive signs with pictures that portrayed the mountainside over the years and the scarring from the lava. I have never seen a volcano before so it was a great experience to see not just the looming mountain in the background but the effect that an eruption can have. 

The Lava Flow Trail is a simple paved path if you just want to see from a distance or read the signs, but the real fun happens when you take the staircase down into the lava flow. Large grooves where the flow carved out of the ground is now walkable and you can explore this amazing natural spectacle. We had a lot of fun just weaving in and around the channels and exploring the beauty of it all. 

So when it comes to what to expect at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, you can expect to see amazing lava formations! We were blown away by the massive destruction it caused nearly a thousand years ago and yet you can still walk among the carnage today. If you would like to learn more about this park make sure to visit the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument website. It also will help to take the links to the maps I have given throughout the article and get the AllTrails app so you can follow the map on your hike. Want to see our journey through the lava flows? Check out our Adventuring in the Moment video to see more.