The recreation area is on a ridge of sandstone overlooking the lava fields. America The Beautiful – The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Passes are sold here.Tour Bus – 15 or more persons on board, $15.00.Day Use – two or more in vehicle, $5.00.Day Use – one person in vehicle, $3.00.When New Mexico gets rain, the area is greener than many well-known lava fields in the American West, like Hell’s Half Acre in Idaho or Lunar Crater in Nevada.ĭirections: Four miles west of the Town of Carrizozo on US 380. ![]() Though the cascading lava flows initially look like a sea of buckled stone, the short nature trail showcases a surprising variety of plant life, including cane cholla, juniper, mesquite, creosote, sage and sumac. You are more likely to see snakes from spring through late fall and the tarantulas usually go on their mating march in September. The area is also a high desert delight for birdwatchers, home to great horned owls, burrowing owls, turkey vultures, hawks, gnat catchers, cactus wrens, sparrows and golden eagles. Critters in the area include bats, roadrunners, quail, foxes, cottontails, mule deer, oryx, barberry sheep, snakes, tarantulas, and a few varieties of lizard. Valley of Fires is in a transition zone between the Chihuahuan Desert and grasslands. If you choose to go trail blazing, let someone know your plans. There are lava tubes, but there aren’t as many and they are smaller and more fragile. Please keep in mind, this area is not as well-developed for hikers as other lava fields, like the El Malpais National Monument near Grants, where hikers can pick a marked trail above ground or hike inside a lava tube. Additionally, there are two types of lava, rough blocks of ‘A’ā (pronounced “ah-ah”) and ropy flows of pahoehoe (pronounced pah-hoh-ey-hoh-ey)]. There are lava caves, pressure ridges, and collapsed gas bubbles. Valley of Fires is still an interesting geologic Petrie dish. The geologic contrast is striking enough, and large enough, to be seen from space. Valley of Fires lava flows extend from the north end of the Tularosa Basin to 14 miles north of the gypsum dunes of White Sands National Park. The view from the top of Sierra Blanca is outstanding on a clear day. In total, the Carrizozo Malpais lava flow is 4-6 miles wide, 44-miles long, and approximately 160-feet thick, covering 125 square miles of the Tularosa Basin. Whereas most of the volcanic activity has been steady seepage, the last eruption, about 1,500-2,000 years ago, was more explosive. This creates faults, which provide paths for magma to reach the Earth’s surface. The volcanic field is associated with the Rio Grande Rift, a part of the Earth’s crust that is being gradually pulled apart. ![]() Volcanic vents on Little Black Peak starting oozing lava about 5,000 years ago, filling the northern end of the Tularosa Valley with streams of molten rock for about 30 years. They also gleaned vegetation in the Malpais, like sotol, prickly pears, and yucca, using them as sources of both fibers and food. More recently, the Mescalero Apache used lava rocks as grinding stones. The Mogollon left more than 20,000 images on basalt boulders on the east side of the basin. ![]() There were probably humans in the area when the volcanic vents were last active, because archaeological evidence of humans in the Tularosa Basin goes back over 12,000 years. Located just four miles west of Carrizozo, Valley of Fires is one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States, the second youngest in New Mexico behind the McCartys flow in the El Malpais National Monument. Valley of Fires Recreation Area is an interesting stop on US-380 for geology buffs and birdwatchers.
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