Red Mountain Volcano area north of Flagstaff, Arizona. miles round trip hike.
You'll start off in a pinion/juniper forest, notice the many victims of the recent bark beetle infestation. The first 2/3's of the hike follows an old primitive road, the last part of the hike follows a dry wash lined with volcanic cinder sand. Just before entering the cinder cone the forest type changes form juniper/pinion to ponderosa pine forest. Near the end of the trail you'll climb a 6 foot ladder between two portal-like volcanic formations and find yourself within a surreal landscape of rock spires and sheer cliff walls. Into the heart of a 740,000 year old fascinating look at the geology of AZ. The trail is a fairly easy meander for about miles through pinyon and junipers. The trail is a constant rise but the distance goes by quick -- you are drawn in by the sheared off cliff face with its hoodoos and the path is dotted with a variety of blooms - yellow, orange, pink and red against the red cinders or green pinyons. At about 3/4 mile; the trail drops into a wash and follows it in towards the sheared cliff face. The wash is firm sand with scattered ponderosa pines; narrowing down as you head closer and closer to the mountain. You are now flanked by black cinder slopes dotted by interesting vegetation. As I was hiking in late in he afternoon the vegetation was catching the last rays as the sun sank over the cliff and were adding a slivery glimmer to the black slopes - an eerie glow. Red Mountain, located in the Coconino National Forest of northern Arizona, 25 miles northwest of Flagstaff, is a volcanic cinder cone that rises 1,000 feet above the surrounding landscape. It is unusual in having the shape of a "U," open to the west, and in lacking the symmetrical shape of most cinder cones. In addition, a large natural amphitheater cuts into the cone's northeast flank. Erosional pillars called "hoodoos" decorate the amphitheater, and many dark mineral crystals erode out of its walls. Studies by Geological Survey (USGS) and Northern Arizona
Size: 5500px × 4384px
Location: North of Flagstaff 25 miles on Highway 180. AZ.
Photo credit: © Morey Milbradt / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: .., arizona, boulders, cinder, cinders, cliffs, cone, covered, geological, mountain, red, rocks, rocky, stump, survey, towering, volcanic, volcano
