Lunar Crater National Landmark

Monday was reserved for a day trip to the Lunar Crater National Landmark. The Lunar Crater Scenic Byway is about 85 miles (90 minutes) from Tonopah, via State Highway 6. When you find the turnoff, the road quickly turns from one-lane blacktop to rough dirt and gravel. The Scenic Byway is a loop around this fascinating geography, with lots of places to stop with overlooks and paths. Again, it was reminescent of an earlier trip, a road trip we took across Oregon, visiting the Diamond Crater Outstanding Natural Area, near Malheur Lake.

This volcanic area was formed by the more than 20 volcanoes you can see in the photo below (the center volcano is called the "Easy Chair" crater. There is no admission fee, no amenities, and almost no road! You travel around and around until you find your way back onto State Highway 6.

The biggest crater is Lunar Crater. According to their website:

Lunar Crater is what’s geographically defined as a “Maar”… otherwise known as a type of shallow, broad crater that was formed by explosive eruptions close to the ground level that then fills with groundwater. When the groundwater collides with hot magma, that’s when the crater forms.

Lunar Crater and its surrounding smaller craters is so much like the landscape found on the moon, that the area was classified as an official “Terrestrial Analogue Site.” What does that mean? That it was authentic enough for astronauts in the 1970s to train here in preparation for an actual lunar mission. Right in the middle of somewhere Nevada, astronauts practiced collecting rock samples and checklist procedures in full astronaut gear.

There were also startling reminders you were in a desert, as shown by the hard-to-photograph little visitor below left.

As we were bumping along (we learned back in Death Valley that the ride is more comfortable if you go faster!), Tom noted that I hadn't taken a good picture of our trustworthy Jeep. We had stopped at a dried-up lake bed near the end of the scenic byway, and the dust devils were swirling. I suspect the rental company will add on a fee for having to clean all the dirt and dust off this poor Jeep. (I felt guilty that Tom did all the driving the entire trip, but he is a better driver than I am.)

The tire tracks on the dried lake bed are NOT ours.

And then we headed back to Tonopah for a good night's sleep before heading northward again, this time in search of Lamoille Canyon.