80 miles from Albuquerque, New Mexico has a lava field that looks like another world

It’s called the land of fire

El Malpais National Monument sits about 80 miles west of Albuquerque in western New Mexico, and most people drive right past it on Interstate 40 without knowing it’s there.

The name means “the badlands” in Spanish, pronounced el-mal-pie-EES.

The National Park Service manages roughly 114,000 acres of lava flows, cinder cones, sandstone bluffs and lava tube caves here, and you never pay a dime to get in.

Eruptions shaped this ground over 700,000 years, and the marks they left look like nothing else in the Southwest.

Eruptions here span 700,000 years of fire

The monument sits inside the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field, where lava flows range from about 700,000 years old to roughly 3,900. That youngest flow, the McCartys, is the most recent lava flow in all of New Mexico.

Native peoples, including the Acoma, Zuni, Laguna and Ramah Navajo, have ties to this land stretching back more than 10,000 years. President Reagan signed the monument into law on Dec. 31, 1987.

Next door, the Bureau of Land Management protects another 263,000 acres in the El Malpais National Conservation Area.

Crawl into one of North America’s longest lava tubes

One of the longest lava tube systems in North America runs beneath the monument. You can explore certain caves with a free permit from the visitor center.

The Junction Bridge lava tube along the El Calderon Trail is typically open without a permit and works well for families. But these caves have no lights, no steps and no handrails.

You need protective headgear, at least three light sources, sturdy boots and warm layers, because temperatures underground stay cold all year.

Check with the visitor center before you go, since some caves close to protect bats from white-nose syndrome.

Stand on the sandstone bluffs and see three mountain ranges

A short gravel road takes you to a sandstone ridge rising above the lava fields. From the top, dark lava flows spread across the valley floor in every direction.

To the northeast, Mount Taylor climbs into view, a 3-million-year-old extinct volcano and the second-highest peak in New Mexico. The ancient Zuni Mountains line the western horizon.

You don’t need to hike for this one. The overlook sits right at the parking area, making it the easiest stop in the monument.

Watch 40,000 bats explode from a cave at dusk

The El Calderon Trail loops about three miles through pinon-juniper forest past a cinder cone, lava flow sinks and cave entrances. Deer, elk and rabbits move through the trees along the way.

The surface is mostly gravel, so the trail ranks among the more walkable hikes here. But the real draw is Bat Cave, summer home to roughly 40,000 Mexican free-tailed bats.

On warm evenings from late May to early September, thousands of them burst from the cave at dusk to hunt insects across the desert.

Cross sharp black lava at the Lava Falls Trail

The Lava Falls Trail covers about one mile across an ancient lava flow with roughly 50 feet of elevation gain. Cairns mark the route over the rough rock.

Along the way, you pass a natural amphitheater, sinkholes, trenches and pressure ridges, all frozen in place since the lava cooled. Lichens in grays, oranges and greens cling to the black rock surface.

Wear sturdy boots with ankle support here. The lava is sharp and uneven, and a rolled ankle comes fast on this kind of ground.

Drive the Narrows to New Mexico’s second largest arch

South along Highway 117, sandstone cliffs rise on one side while lava fields spread on the other. The road squeezes through this stretch called the Narrows, and it feels like two different landscapes pressed together.

La Ventana Natural Arch sits in the adjacent National Conservation Area managed by the BLM.

Carved from Jurassic-era Zuni Sandstone laid down roughly 165 to 175 million years ago, it ranks as New Mexico’s second-largest natural arch.

A short quarter-mile trail leads from the parking area to its base, starting paved and turning primitive as it enters the Cebolla Wilderness.

Hike the ancient trail between two pueblos

The Zuni-Acoma Trail once connected the Pueblos of Zuni and Acoma, roughly 100 miles apart. The section inside the monument stretches about 7.5 miles one way across four major lava flows.

You walk over the same ground that people traveled for centuries, and you can still spot pottery shards along the route. The Acoma and Zuni peoples pulled ice from lava tube caves here and used it as a water source.

This trail is strenuous. There is no shade, no water and the lava surface can cut through thin soles.

Twenty-five cinder cones line one gravel road

The Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway runs 33 miles over gravel, passing roughly 25 cinder cones rising from the earth.

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail winds among the craters through pinon, juniper and ponderosa pine. You get a kind of solitude here that is rare in the national park system.

But the road can turn impassable when wet, so check conditions before you head out. A high-clearance vehicle will save you trouble on this remote stretch.

Some of Earth’s oldest Douglas firs grow here

Some of the oldest Rocky Mountain Douglas firs on Earth grow right on the lava fields of El Malpais. The harsh terrain has shielded these trees from wildfires, logging and grazing for centuries.

Scattered across the lava, kipukas, which are islands of older vegetation completely surrounded by flows, hold small ecosystems packed with plant and animal life.

Cinder phacelia, a flowering plant, grows only here and at Sunset Crater National Monument in Arizona. Over 190 bird species have been counted in the monument, along with black bears, elk and coyotes.

Rare ferns and moss gardens hide inside the caves

At least 14 bat species depend on the monument’s lava tubes for shelter and hibernation. The caves hold stable temperatures and protection that make them a critical roosting habitat.

Red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons and great horned owls hunt across the landscape above.

In 2020, scientists found a population of hart ‘ s-tongue ferns growing inside a lava cave, the first confirmed population of this species west of the Mississippi in the U.S. or Canada.

At humid, sunlit cave entrances, moss gardens thrive with 95 moss species and 15 liverwort species on record.

Fill up your tank and bring three light sources

The monument sits about an hour west of Albuquerque, south of Interstate 40 near Grants, N.M. Two state highways border the edges: Highway 117 on the east and Highway 53 on the northwest.

No roads pass through the monument itself, so plan your route before you go.

The visitor center in Grants is open daily with maps, exhibits, cave permits and a 27-minute documentary. Cell reception is minimal to nonexistent once you leave the highway, so download what you need ahead of time.

Explore El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico

You can visit El Malpais any day of the year, and you won’t pay an entrance fee. The monument is located off Interstate 40 near Grants, N.M., about 80 miles west of Albuquerque.

Stop at the El Malpais Visitor Center in Grants first for maps, cave permits and orientation.

Bring plenty of water, sun protection, sturdy boots and layers for temperature swings of roughly 30 degrees between night and afternoon.

The El Calderon Trail and Sandstone Bluffs Overlook make the best starting points if it’s your first time.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• Ancient Puebloan women ruled Chaco Canyon for 330 years – how DNA proved it
• This woman single-handedly rescued a dying Native American art form
• These ancient cliff dwellings once housed atomic bomb scientists in New Mexico