17 Feb 2013
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After taking 2 rain checks on this planned trip, we finally got a chance to visit the Barringer Meteor Crater and Walnut Canyon this weekend.
The Meteor Crater site was surprisingly busy…. Leaving me to wonder if Friday’s recent meteor crash in Russia’s Chelyabinsk caused a spike in visitations. Well, for $16 per person, Meteor Crater in Arizona has to be making a nice profit from the entrance fees. 
After paying the entrance fee, we watched a very short 10 minute film in their theater that was worth watching just to get the background info. We also walked through the mini-museum before going out to the impact site:
Stairs down to the lower viewing area. Walking down into the crater floor is prohibited. Which is probably how they keep this crater as one of the best preserved impact sites.
It’s hard to gauge the size & distance of things but there are plenty of telescopes to peek through. Without telescopes, you can’t tell what is exactly in the middle….
Luckily, I also brought a zoom lens for my camera. The astronaut is 6 feet / 72 inches tall.
The hole is a shaft down.
Stairs to the upper viewing area.
Meteor crater impact site from the upper viewing area.
Miles and miles of nothingness around the area… I think it was like this before the impact.
On the drive back to Flagstaff, we stopped at Walnut Canyon National Monument to see the cliff dwellings of the Sinagua, who were in residence from 1100 to 1250 AD.
We had hoped to hike the Island Trail Loop but upon arrival we were informed that part of the Island Trail was closed for construction until the 28th. It will be closed on and off after that for trail repaving.
Aw poop.
So we weren’t able to get into the dwellings but we had a pretty fantastic view regardless:
I can’t imagine getting water or food… or any other supplies was easy.
| Interstate 40, Exit 233, Winslow, AZ 86047 | |
| www.meteorcrater.com | |
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| Walnut Canyon Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86004 | |
| www.nps.gov/waca/index.htm | |
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3 Comments
Last Summer we were traveling from Las Vegas to Pinetop and as we passed the meteor crater I decided to pull off to go see it. We were anxious to get to Pinetop and we didn’t know how far down the road the site was but I told my wife, “Let’s just keep going a little further.” We made it to the parking lot but then found out it was $8-16 per person. With 4 kids, we weren’t expecting to pay so much and the kids are so little and we had already driven so long we decided to pass on seeing the crater. We need to plan it in next time we drive that stretch. When the kids are a little older they’ll probably appreciate it more.
I agree, it’s better for the kids to experience the meteor crater when they’re more able to grasp the significance of it. The younger children we saw there did not seem to enjoy it –I remember because they were venting it out quite loudly. LOL! For what it is, it’s pretty pricey, especially when you have family with you!
Awesome pics!