Why You Should Visit the Meteor Crater in Arizona

There are many reasons why you should visit the Meteor Crater in Arizona. It is the best preserved impact crater in the world and amazing to visit. Here is how you can see it.

I’m so happy we were finally able to see the Meteor Crater and what it’s all about as we stopped there on our road trip to Arizona. It was such a fascinating place with so much history behind it. If you are still wondering why you should also visit the Meteor Crater in Arizona, continue reading.

About 50,000 years ago a huge fire ball lit the sky and then fell down to the Arizona Desert. The meteorite left a huge hole in the ground, now known as the Barringer Meteorite Crater. Now people come from all over the world to see it and scientists are still researching the impact.

It was interesting to find out about it and to imagine how it happened so long ago.

The Meteor Crater, officially Meteor Crater & Barringer Space Museum, is right along Historic Route 66 (now Interstate 40). There isn’t much to see on this drive as the road goes through the Arizona desert. But suddenly, in a middle of nowhere you start seeing signs to the Meteor Crater.

WHAT IS THE ARIZONA METEOR CRATER?

It is hard to imagine what happened during the impact, since it happened so long a go. When the meteorite struck the earth it was still the last ice age.

After it hit the ground, it exploded completely and most of the meteorite melted away. Part of it turned into ash that was flung high in the air.

The impact is said to have been like 150 Hiroshima atomic bombs, and created an 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

It destroyed most everything that was living close by. Mammoths, giant ground sloths and other animals in the surroundings of the crater died, and the vegetation burned.

The crater that was left behind by the impact is about 0.6 miles (1 kilometre) wide. The scientists have estimated that it took about a hundred years for the plants to start re-growing in the area. Some of the animals returned, and a lake was formed at the bottom of the hole.

Both erosion, and new growth has evened out the sharp edges of the crater over the years. The lake at the bottom later dried up due to a warming climate and drier soil in Arizona.

It is due to this climate change that the crater has been preserved so well and can still been seen.

It was not clear right away that the crater had formed due to a meteorite. In the 20th century it was commonly thought that it could have been caused by volcanic activity.

However, in 1902 a mining engineer Daniel Moreau Barringer heard about the crater and got himself a permit to mine it. He was convinced that it was not created by a volcano and researched further, believing it was caused by a meteorite.

But his meteorite theory was not widely supported, and he died in 1929 without getting any validation of his work. By then, he had used everything he had for the research, including all other investors money.

It wasn’t until a lot later, that his theory of a meteorite was proven to be accurate, and the crater was named The Barringer Meteorite Crater.

In 1963 a geologist Eugene Shoemaker was able to showcase to the public that the crater really was created by a meteorite.

People started getting more and more interested in seeing it, and even the crew of Apollo 11 used it for practise for the moon landing. They later visited the moon lead by Neil Armstrong.

The Meteor Crater is still owned by the Barringer family today. Daniel Barringer’s grand children have dedicated it as a research center and a museum. And obviously, it is also a tourist destination.

Protecting the crater is the most important thing to the Barringers, but they also want to give scientists access to perform research there.

VISITING THE METEOR CRATER

We purchased tickets to the Meteor Crater before-hand from their webpage. It was pretty convenient since the ticket was valid which ever day we decided to go, and we didn’t have to choose a specific date for the ticket.

When we visited the Meteor Crater it was not crowded at all. The parking lot had plenty of space, and with the pre-purchased ticket we were able to skip the line.

The museum at the Meteor Crater is very well done and very interesting to visit. It’s also not too big so it wont take all day to visit.

The coolest thing there definitely was the Holsinger’s Meteorite, which is the biggest meteorite piece found from the crater.

So here, if by now you haven’t realised why you should visit the meteor crater, where else would you ever see such a big piece of a meteorite!

A guided tour of the crater is included in the entrance fee and it sounded really interesting. However, we skipped it because we weren’t sure if our kids would be up for an hour long tour.

I’m sure for adults though, it offers a lot of information and a closer view of the crater. The viewing points by the museum seemed fun enough for us though with the telescopes and everything.

In the museum building they also had a cafeteria and a nice little souvenir shop with all kinds of space related things.

On the outside patio with picnic tables they had a space capsule from Apollo 11. It had been used for training purposes by NASA.

Where to stay on Route 66 in Arizona

We’ve spent the night in several spots along the Arizona stretch of Route 66. Most often, we’ve chosen Flagstaff; it has the best hotel selection and is roughly halfway across the state. Our favorite there has been Aiden by Best Western.

We’ve also stayed at the quirky Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, where the guests sleep in the 50’s concrete teepees, and in the town of Williams. Williams is popular choice since it’s the getaway to the Grand Canyon. Despite being a small town, it offers a few great hotels like The Historic Grand Canyon Hotel and Best Western Plus Inn of Williams. Just make sure to book early as the rooms in Williams tend to sell out fast.

Another great stop is Kingman, big enough to offer a range of accommodation options. We recommend Best Western Plus King’s Inn and Suites or Best Western Plus a Wayfarer’s Inn & Suites. They both include breakfast in the room rate.

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After visiting the Meteor Crater we continued our trip to Petrified Forest National Park which was only about an hour drive. Also New Mexico border is only couple of hours away.

When driving over from California or from Las Vegas along the Route 66, don’t forget to stop at Walnut Canyon National Monument along the way. Both Grand Canyon and Sedona are also only a small detour away so a visit to the Meteor Crater is a great add on to a road trip.

The Meteor Crater is somehow interesting because, even if at the end of the day, it is just a big hole in the ground — at the same time it is so intriguing to let your imagination loose about what has happened in the past.

I had always wanted to visit the Meteor Crater and here we now were. I couldn’t believe that a real meteorite had fallen to earth right in front of us.

Would you visit the Meteor Crater?