A visit to the large meteor crater near Winslow, Arizona was one of my most vivid childhood memories. I was in awe at the huge hole that the meteor had made in the middle of the desert and I later asked my parents on many occasions if we could go back. Despite all the trips our family made between California and Maryland we never managed to fit that in. My Dad was one of those “Get back in the car, we’re burning daylight!” type travelers – still calling it a vacation. When I had a family of my own and could travel I took them back to this spot in the hopes they would be as impressed as I had been. They probably were, but a bad spill on the gravel walkway left my son, Mike, (then about 10) with a pretty bad scar and some not so pleasant memories of that vacation. Still, the meteor crater remains one of my favorite spots, so it was a no brainer that Linda and I would stop in. It is still spectacular and nearly beyond belief that something hit the earth hard enough to make that kind of hole in the ground. In the photos below I have marked one with a small red box which shows where a 6-foot replica of an astronaut and a flag have been placed at the bottom of the crater. The photo following shows the contents of the box taken with a telephoto. Then comes a photo of the rim of the crater with a tour group standing in the distance (see the red arrow). I do this to try and convey the size of this crater, as I don’t think a photograph can possible do that – not even a panorama like this. Enjoy the photos and if you ever find yourself traveling along Interstate 40 near the Arizona/New Mexico border, be sure to stop here. It’s just 5 miles off the interstate.
Amazing!
I’ll always remember that, and want to get back there! Truly incomprehensible that a ‘falling’ rock could move that much earth.
It looks huge and very impressive!! Thanks for the picture. It is a WOW!
That’s one spot I wanted to, but didn’t get to see when I went through that neighborhood. Enjoy your travels.
It was a great visit. The area has changed a lot since I visited the area with my family in the 70’s. The building and services not the crater. LOL