El Malpais National Monument
Just one of the amazing rock formations at El Malpais National Monument. Source: National Park Service.
Picture above: La Ventana Natural Arch in the El Malpais Conservation Area, 2008, J. Dykstra. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons. Right: Another formation of the sandstone bluffs in low light. Courtesy Library of Congress.
El Malpais National Monument
West of Albuqurque, New Mexico in a landscape culled from a number of volcanic explosions, creating a landscape more suited for the moon. These lava beds, and the caves beneath some of the national monument, are stunning examples of the earth's magma power. And these aren't even considered old lava flows. They are of the new variety. Visit El Malpais National Monument to witness God's power beneath, and now above the earth, witness a dark sky program above the ozone, and spend a day in wonder. Hike it, drive it, explore some of most of its one hundred and forteen thousand acres.
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El Malpais Then
There were many volcanic explosions over the course of the El Malpais territorial life. It is said that each volcano only exploded its balsaltic lava one time; how do they know? The Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field holds the remnants of the most recent; the others were so long ago, and many outside the park, that their remnants are buried. We are talking seven hundred thousand years ago for them. For the five inside the boundary, they are the McCartys Flow, Bandera Flows, Hoya de Cibola Flows, Twin Craters Flows, and the El Calderon. The youngest is McCartys, thirty-nine hundred years ago; the oldest El Calderon, sixty thousand years ago. The largest is Bandera crater.
Photo above: One example of a cinder cone today, one of the past volcanoes which built the lava bed landscape in the valleys below. Below: The exit/entrance skylight of Grants Ice Cave. Both courtesy National Park Service.
Minute Walk in History - El Malpais
Wander around the landscape of El Malpais National Monument, a New Mexico wonder of lava beds from many volcanic spews centuries ago, and now a park of history and nature.
El Malpais Now
Today, and since 1987, El Malpais National Monument has been home to the lava flows, cinder cones, and caves that make this land so spectacular and wonderful to visit. There are over one hundred thousand acres here to explore by foot or by car. Some of the roads can be difficult to pass through during bad weather; check with the park rangers at the Visitor Center about which roads are suitable for your vehicle.
T-Shirts and Souvenirs
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El Malpais National Monument
Things You Should Not Miss
1. Your first stop should be the Visitor Center. There you can watch the park film, "El Malpais: Land of Frozen Fire", walk through the exhibits and get orientation about where to go in the park or if there are any ranger guided programs during your stay.
2. If the dark skies program is available during the night of your visit, participate. El Malpais has one of the darkest skies of any national park or monument.
3. Quesy about bats. Well, get over it, buy a helmet, and take in the nightly, or most nights, flying out of the bat cave of thousands of bats. So one gets in your hair. Only kidding.
Photo above: Visitors engaged in a night sky program. Courtesy National Park Service.
Visitor FAQ
What's There Now
El Malpais National Monument
A Visitor Center greets you with exhibits, a film, facilities, and orientation. The park is open year round and the Visitor Center seven days a week, except some national holidays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Within the park, there are cinder cones from the most recent period of eruption, newest three thousand and nine hundred years ago. There are trails amongst the lava flows to walk. There are park ranger tours to attend. Among the many features are caves created within the cooled magma, some with bats a present, plus sandstone bluffs and desert vistas.
El Malpais Visitor Center and parking area is situated off Exit 85 of I-40. Physical address is 1900 East Santa Fe Avenue, Grants, New Mexico 87020. The park is on the Trails of the Ancients byway.
Photo above: El Malpais National Monument Visitor Center. Courtesy National Park Service.
Lodging, Camping, and Food
There are no lodging facilities within the park. Backcountry camping is allowed, but there are strict rules about where you can park. Ask before you park; trailheads are not to be used overnight. There are no designated sites. You can find lodging and food in Grants, as well as private campgrounds in the area. For public campgrounds, there is Cibola National Forest, Joe Skeen Campground on BLM land, and campsites at El Morro National Monument, which is its sister site with joint management.
Image above: Architectual rendering of a future Bat Cave Amphitheater. Courtesy National Park Service.
El Malpais After the Lava
Europeans conquistadors named the lava beds after they arrived; they called it El Malpais because it meant badlands in Spanish. Sorry Badlands National Park, but this may or may not have come first. However, talking about first, the inhabitants of this area were Native American tribes, Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni, who traveled over the flows, plus lived and worked around this harsh landscape. The Navajo would come later. Those puny conquistadors tried to avoid it. Wimps.
In 1862, Fort Wingate was established to ward off Navajo raiding parties, who now had horses, courtesy of the Spanish. The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad came in 1881, changing the area forever. There was now a town called Grants, plus cattle and sheep ranches. There was logging in the mountains and other towns sprung into existence. During World War II, the lava flows and McCartys cinder cone were used for bombing practice for one year. Not good; its size has been impacted. It was on the list for the first atomic bomb test. Good it was not used. In the 1950's, uranium was found; the boom ended by 1987 when El Malpais National Monument was established. During the same period, Route 66 began to bring more visitors, eventually to the established National Park Service site.
Image above: Railroad in the region of El Malpais. Courtesy National Park Service.
