July 2023 – One for the Money Two for the Road
El Malpais (pronounced El Mal-pie-EEs) National Monument will leave visitors in awe of its varied landscapes and geological wonders. Lying a few miles west of Mount Taylor, an 11,301-foot stratovolcano, El Malpais features its own lava flows, tubes, and caves, as well as cinder cones, sandstone bluffs, and other volcanoes. We hope you enjoy the journey as we visit some highlights of this intriguing park.
Where is it?
El Malpais National Monument is located south of Grants, New Mexico, just off of I-40. The physical address is 1900 East Santa Fe Avenue, Grants, New Mexico.
Park features include:
- Visitor Center with bookstore, museum exhibits, and covered picnic area
- Hiking trails, including a portion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
- Scenic Drives via Highway 53 and Highway 117
- Lava tube caving by permit
- Backcountry camping by permit
- Ranger programs, including bat flights during June and July
- Ranger guided hikes
- Periodic Cultural/Craft/Demonstration Events
- Free Admission
Access the park’s website here.
View of Mount Taylor which is sacred to the Native American people who live in the area.
El Malpais Via Highway 117
The national monument abuts the El Malpais National Conservation Area which is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Features of the conservation area include a campground, picnic areas, a natural arch, and several trailheads. However, we chose a short hike along the Sandstone Bluffs area of the national monument because a helpful park ranger told us the scenery was spectacular.
Approaching Sandstone Bluffs.
A gravel road took us the last couple of miles to the Sandstone Bluffs parking lot, and the bumpiness was well worth the trek. The ranger was right, the scenery was spectacular! We spent an hour walking along the bluffs and admiring the scenery.
Sandstone Bluffs with Mount Taylor in the background. 
A view of some of El Malpais’ lava flows. 
Not-so-bad badlands with lava and mountains.
Lava flows at El Malpais date from 115,000 years ago to 3,900 years ago. At least 200 known vents from which the lava flowed created the cinder cones and shield volcanoes in the park. Interestingly, before this area became a national monument it was used by the military as a test bombing range.
La Ventana Arch
This amazing natural sandstone arch is located in the El Malpais National Conservation Area but is close to Sandstone Bluffs on Highway 117. It is one of the largest arches in New Mexico, and the surrounding scenery is as breathtaking as it is historic. La Ventana Arch spans 120 feet, and its top is 25 feet thick.
Approaching La Ventana Arch under gathering storm clouds.
According to park information, the area surrounding El Malpais once resembled the Sahara Desert. About 160 million years ago, the cliffs and bluffs we see today were sand dunes, now called Zuni Sandstone.
Zuni and Dakota Sandstone layers
Then, about 96 million years ago, the Western Interior Seaway made its way into what is now New Mexico and deposited the top layer, now called Dakota Sandstone. The two geological eras are divided by the white layer near the top of the cliffs as seen in the photo above. It is also interesting how the colors of the two sandstone layers differ.
La Ventana Arch and its surrounds. La Ventana means the window in Spanish.
A quarter-mile hike on an easy trail from the parking lot gives visitors an up-close view of the arch. Not only is La Ventana magnificent, but the colors of the surrounding rocky cliffs make for an awe-inspiring experience. Additionally, the area features a perfect place for a picnic with covered tables among the trees near the parking lot.
Spectacular colors!
El Malpais Via Highway 53
Highway 53 takes visitors along the western side of the park which also abuts the El Malpais National Conservation Area. Hiking trails, the El Calderon Volcano, and lava tubes are accessible from this road. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to hike El Calderon because we chose to visit another volcano that will be featured in separate post.
The scenery along Highway 53 got prettier the farther we drove, but it wasn’t as pretty as the scenery along Highway 117. For those who plan to visit El Malpais, note that it took us 35 minutes to backtrack from La Ventana Arch to the visitor center. Highway 53 also leads to El Morro National Monument, which is approximately 43 miles southwest of the El Malpais Visitor Center.
Fire and Ice Native American Art and Dance Gathering
One of the best things about our visit was that the park was hosting the Fire and Ice Native American Art and Dance Gathering on the day we were there. We didn’t know about the event until we arrived at the visitor center, but it was exciting to meet the artists and purchase some of their offerings.
We were also able to see a traditional dance, which was fascinating. Native American dance was something neither of us had even seen before, and the troupe was made up of dancers from various pueblos in the area.
Thank you so much for visiting El Malpais National Monument with us! We are closing the post with one more view of the fabulous La Ventana Arch.
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Happy, safe travels, y’all!
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
©2023
The Painted Desert Inn, which is a National Historic Landmark, can be found on the portion of Historic Route 66 that traverses the park. The former inn now serves as a museum.
It’s hard to believe this was once a rainforest and riparian ecosystem.
As a rainforest surrounded by rivers and swamplands, its inhabitants included intriguing pre-dinosaur age animals that roamed or swam in the area.
Placerias hesternus lived before and then with the dinosaurs.
Artist’s rendition of what the animal might have looked like.
According to the park: The colorful bands of the Chinle Formation represent ancient soil horizons. While the red, blue, and green layers generally contain the same amount of iron and manganese, differences in color depend on the position of the groundwater table when the ancient soils were formed. In soils where the water table was high, a reducing environment existed due to a lack of oxygen in the sediments, giving the iron minerals in the soil a greenish or bluish hue, such as at Blue Mesa. The pink and reddish layers were formed where the water table fluctuated, allowing the iron mineral to oxidize (rust).
The Tepees
View across the road from The Tepees. Oh, those colors, and we accidentally captured the moon!
Petroglyphs
Stunning vista. 
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Thunderbird Lodge. We loved this hotel!
Fernando and the truck. Thunderbird Lodge guides conduct their tours in Pinzgauer troop transport vehicles that were built in Austria in the 1970s.
Thankfully the water wasn’t deep, but Fernando said in 40 years of living and working in the canyon he hadn’t seen so much water in the wash. Not knowing the difference, we thought the watery wash just added to the adventure.
This shot shows a great example of desert varnish: the drippy striations on the canyon walls where minerals have leached out and stained the rock.
Mostly made up of De Chelly sandstone, the canyon walls vary in height from 30 feet to 1,000 feet. All of them are spectacular.
First Ruin – that’s really the name.
Junction Ruin, so named because it is near the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon de Muerto. 
Ledge Ruin because it’s on a ledge, and that ledge is in a natural amphitheater. 
Antelope House was built on the ground and was once covered in white plaster.
White House Ruin and its rock art.
Antelope or deer, people – perhaps a family, and a hill or rainbow. 
Cow, antelope, horses, flowing water, and perhaps an astrological symbol. 
This spectacular pictograph panel depicts the arrival of Spanish explorers, including a priest.
This probably depicts a deer hunt on horseback. 
Horses, maybe and and a figure eight which possibly has an astrological meaning. 
Possible depictions of snakes and other unknown images.
Recent rains filled the wash and enhanced the “green”. 
Views from the top are just as stunning as they are from the floor. 
Spider Rock (center) is probably the most recognizable feature of Canyon de Chelly and rises 1,000 feet from the canyon floor.
Traditional Navajo hogan (dwelling – pronounced hoe-gone) in Canyon de Chelly.
Fortress Rock – a sacred place for today’s Navajo people.
This shot shows a ladder (the two wooden poles on the right) used by the Navajo people who fled to the top of Fortress Rock.
Canyon de Chelly
The Painted Desert Inn, which is a National Historic Landmark, can be found on the portion of Historic Route 66 that traverses the park. The former inn now serves as a museum.
It’s hard to believe this was once a rainforest and riparian ecosystem.
As a rainforest surrounded by rivers and swamplands, its inhabitants included intriguing pre-dinosaur age animals that roamed or swam in the area.
Placerias hesternus lived before and then with the dinosaurs.
Artist’s rendition of what the animal might have looked like.
Crystal Forest
Littered with logs. 
Spectacular colors.
According to the park: The colorful bands of the Chinle Formation represent ancient soil horizons. While the red, blue, and green layers generally contain the same amount of iron and manganese, differences in color depend on the position of the groundwater table when the ancient soils were formed. In soils where the water table was high, a reducing environment existed due to a lack of oxygen in the sediments, giving the iron minerals in the soil a greenish or bluish hue, such as at Blue Mesa. The pink and reddish layers were formed where the water table fluctuated, allowing the iron mineral to oxidize (rust).
That’s a little bit of snow in the left foreground.
The Tepees
View across the road from The Tepees. Oh, those colors, and we accidentally captured the moon!
Petroglyphs
Some of the pueblo ruins. 
One of several kivas (underground ceremonial rooms) located on the site.
Stunning vista. 
Pretty in pink.
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Mountains and wildflowers on US 160 near Four Corners Monument in the far northwest corner of the state.
Here we are in all four states at once (kind of). Though not taken through the windshield, obviously, we had to stand in line to get our turn, and the people behind us were kind enough to take our picture. 
Otherworldly landscape near Shiprock. 
Ghostly Shiprock in a haze.
Gorgeous Navajo landscape as seen from the highway near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. 
Heading south on Highway 550.
Highway 442 near Taos
Highway 96 near Abiquiu Lake northwest of the town of Abiquiu (Abba-cue). 
Near Los Alamos – Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway (click for website). 
Another gorgeous Jemez Mountains view. (It’s not a video – that’s a road sign.) 
On the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway (click for website) near the small town of Cerillos. 
From Highway 14 – Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe.
Highway 117 about 20 miles south of I-40 near Grants 
Highway 53 between El Morrow National Monument and Ramah 
On Highway 55 north of Mountainair, New Mexico
Desolation. Highway 60 between Clovis and Fort Sumner.
Sierra Blanca peak near Ruidoso. 
Featured photo. Sacramento Mountains off of Highway 54. 
Free range cattle near Carlsbad.
Imagine topping a hill and seeing an unexpected first glimpse of a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains!
Scenic Roosevelt Lake and snowcapped mountains as seen from the visitor center parking lot. Little did we know that we would be driving through those snowy mountains later that day.
Lower dwelling
Depiction of what the lower dwelling might have looked like when it was inhabited.
Stone and mud wall 
Another view of the same wall as above 
Remains an upper level of the structure with the cave wall 
The pine or juniper beams would have supported a roof or a ceiling.
Interesting geology. Not only pretty, but practical.
Detail of the rock layers at Tonto National Monument.
Lower dwelling as seen from the trail. 
View of the trail looking back toward the visitor center parking lot. 
And the views from the top are worth all the panting to get there!
National Park Service photo of the Upper Dwelling.
Thank you for letting us share Tonto National Monument with you! We are truly honored to have you join us on our road trips. If you’re looking for more road trip inspiration, check these out: