@ourfiftystates: In northeastern New Mexico, you can walk down into the throat of a volcano. Not metaphorically — there is a trail that descends into the crater itself. Capulin Volcano National Monument sits about 30 miles east of Raton, rising 1,300 feet above the surrounding high grasslands. It last erupted approximately 54,200 years ago, in a single episode that probably lasted only a few years. Then it stopped, permanently. Volcanologists classify it as monogenetic — one eruption, one cone, done. It will not erupt again. What that eruption left behind is one of the best-preserved cinder cones on the continent. The crater measures roughly 1,450 feet across. The summit reaches 8,182 feet. On a clear day from the rim, you can see four states. Capulin is part of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field, a province of more than a hundred extinct volcanoes covering over 8,000 square miles. But Capulin alone still has its crater intact and open to the public. The monument was established in 1916. A paved road spirals to the rim. From there, the crater vent trail drops you all the way to the bottom. --- #OurFiftyStates #hiddengem #capulinvolcanonationalmonument #newmexico #NewMexicoTRUE

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Friday 18 September 2026 22:39:09 GMT