Cinder Lake Crater Field
Visited
2017.11.13
Near Flagstaff, Arizona
Just outside of Flagstaff, I stopped to check out Cinder Lake, an area that NASA used as a “lunar analogue” when training for the Apollo missions. Here in the cinder fields of an extinct volcano, they blasted the terrain to recreate the moon landing area. A great article by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley, that appeared in The Atlantic, describes it best. It’s also where I sourced the NASA images from.
[ Note on Subject ]
Source: NASA
[ Note on Subject ]
Source: NASA
[ Note on Subject ]
Source: NASA
[ Note on Subject ]
Source: NASA
At this point the craters are mostly gone, and the fields are a playground for off-road vehicles. It’s still a fun area to explore and go camping in though. Just be careful that you don’t drive off the roads in something that isn’t four-wheel drive. The cinders are like sand and can be pretty deep in places. There was one point where I thought I was going to get stuck, and I was in an all-wheel drive vehicle.
