Meteor Crater: Arizona's other huge hole in the ground

Arizona is best known for its giant hole in the ground, a feature that became the state's license-plate slogan and has etched itself into the hearts of tourists around the world.

But Grand Canyon isn’t the state’s only hole in the ground that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Meteor Crater is a geological warm-up act to the Canyon, an interesting diversion worth visiting for an hour or so (more if you browse the gift shop or have lunch at the sandwich shop).

And you don't want to miss the story of how the attraction all started with a miner willing to sink his family's fortune into the pit.

How the crater was created

Fifty thousand years ago, give or take a millennium, a 150-foot-wide iron-nickel meteorite slammed to Earth, killing every living thing within a few miles.

The mile-wide, 550-foot-deep gouge people see today was crafted in roughly 10 seconds when the meteorite, traveling at 26,000 mph, crash-landed in what was then a forest of juniper and piñon pines.

Thanks to orbital physics, gravity and human-migration patterns, the meteorite hit a spot just 5 miles off the future site of a major interstate. Billboards to the east and west tout the privately owned landmark, beckoning travelers who could use a break.

The crater is more a stopover than a destination, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The space-crafted bowl draws more than 200,000 people annually, and it’s likely the vast majority have pulled over on the way to Grand Canyon or while exploring Route 66. More than a few probably stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, 26 miles to the east and the closest town to the crater.

Few would be disappointed by what awaits 5 miles south of Interstate 40. The two-lane road leading from the off-ramp to the visitor center wasn’t paved until the 1980s, turning a tooth-rattling jaunt over a washboard trail into a pleasant drive through the dusty landscape.

The road gradually climbs as it nears a rock-strewn ridge rising incongruously from the desert floor. A building emerges, stacked rectangles of red brick embedded into the ridge.

Exploring Meteor Crater

After paying for tickets inside the lower lobby, visitors take the elevator or stairs to the top level, where the story of Meteor Crater unfolds through exhibits. From a computer animation of the moment of impact to a display of NASA’s Apollo astronauts who trained there for moon landings, the crater’s history is easy to follow thanks to a well-designed flow.

Visitors also learn of Daniel Moreau Barringer, a Philadelphia mining engineer who was convinced that a fortune in iron lay just beneath the hollowed-out surface. In the early 1900s, many thought the meteorite had to be nearly as big as the hole it created.

The mining operation was a bust — you can still see remnants of the mining camp at the bottom of the crater, complete with the initial shaft — but thanks to mineral claims, the land eventually was deeded to Barringer and his family.

The Barringer heirs teamed with a rancher who owned the surrounding land and eventually opened Meteor Crater as a tourist attraction as well as a destination for scientists and researchers furthering the study of meteorite impacts.

Exit the back of the visitor center for a dramatic reveal of the crater, the whole of which spreads before every vista.

About the tours

The 30-minute tours start to the right, choreographed in such a way that the arriving and departing groups pass each other on the trail. The asphalt path is accessible to visitors with mobility difficulties, although it’s a bumpy ride in a wheelchair.

Guides offer lessons in history and geology, but little information beyond what is in the visitor center. Those who prefer to explore on their own will want to head left where multilevel viewing platforms await.

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Even after 50,000 years, the crater maintains its graceful symmetry. Cliffs drop sharply before curving gently to the bottom, the ground flattening toward the center. Wind and rain have shaved about 150 feet off the rim, yet the arid climate has done its share to preserve the crater’s original look.

Several telescopes yield close-up views of the rim and floor. A 12-foot-high steam boiler near the mine shaft offers perspective on the crater’s size. Transporting equipment was an arduous task, made more difficult when Barringer began drilling into the rim itself, thinking the meteorite must have landed at a steep angle and buried itself into the side of the crater.

Decades would pass before it was clear there was no vast iron deposit, just random chunks of meteorite that survived impact.

Bits and pieces of the space rock remain scattered throughout the crater, which has for years been restricted solely to researchers.

Given the nearly 600-foot descent and subsequent climb, few complain, especially if they’re saving their hiking energy for the Grand Canyon.

Meteor Crater

Where: From Phoenix, take Interstate 17 north to Flagstaff, then head east on Interstate 40 for 36 miles to Meteor Crater Road. Drive south 5 miles to Meteor Crater. 

When: 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily the rest of the year.

Admission: $22, $20 for age 60 and older, $13 for ages 6-12, nonactive military members and veterans, free for age 5 and younger and active military members with ID.

Details:  800-289-5898, meteorcrater.com.

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