Amboy Crater

Amboy Crater National Landmark road sign — Amboy Crater

The road to Amboy Crater, on Route 66 has been greatly improved since our last visit and is well signposted. It dead-ends at the parking lot and interpretive trails.

Tarmac driveway through desert landscape with volcanic mountains in the horizon — The road to Amboy Crater

Here you can picnic and spend time in an overlook area which has lots of shade from the midday sun. There are also pit toilets which on every occasion we’ve been here were exceptionally clean.

Large dirt parking area with covered picnic tables for shade — Picnic and parking area

If you fancy it, you can hike to the top of the 250-foot high crater.

This is one of the youngest volcanic fields in the USA, but the most recent eruption was still over 10,000 years ago! Thus creating Amboy Crater and expanding over 27 square miles of lava beds.

Large volcanic crater in a field of lava beds — Crater and lava beds

Being on BLM land means not only is it free to get in and explore, but you can camp free of charge too.

Arriving at about 10 pm, we decided to settle down for the night in the back of our minivan. We planned on leaving at sunrise to hike to the top of the crater.

trailhead to the crater

The hike to the top is about a three-mile round trip. It is all on uneven surfaces and with no shade, so it would be wise to wear a hat, long sleeve shirt, sunblock and take plenty of water with you.

Trail sign with an arrow pointing to the right. — Trail marker

Keep a lookout for rattlesnakes and military explosives! Neither of which we saw, fortunately! However, remaining on the actual trail, (which is always advised), is a pretty safe bet.

Desert trail over larva field with volcanic mountains in the horizon — The trail to Amboy Crater

The trail is uneven as it undulates over lava beds with intermittent spots of soft sand, which seemed to end up filling our shoes!

There are also Heat Warning signs spasmodically placed throughout the trail. These signs say HIKING IS NOT RECOMMENDED. Mind you, this was the last week of October at 6 am so the heat was not a factor, and we had plenty of water with us.

Sandy Trail with Heat Warning Sign. Amboy Crater is in the distance — Sandy Trail with Heat Warning Sign

Along the way, we found three separate seating areas which gave a little shade and also told us how far we had come.

Seating area with shade in the middle of the desert and lava field. Amboy Crater can be seen in the background — Some shade along the way

to the rim of amboy crater

Getting to the actual rim was a bit of a scramble. The volcanic rocks were loose and very sharp.

Steep sand and volcanic rock trail leading up to the rim of the crater — Hiking up to the rim

The view from the top is well worth the effort though. Especially in the morning when the soft hues of the landscape look as if they belong on pastel canvases.

There are several trails to choose from; we decided to walk across the caldera to the other side.

the caldera

Lava rocks and desert shrubs at the top of the crater — Climbing the rim over the sharp lava

This is the sort of hike that we would advise to do with someone. Just one wrong step and you can easily end up “ass over tit”, getting a severe injury.

View from the top of crater looking into the caldera — From the rim looking in

Fortunately for us, apart from a few slips we made it safely to the summit, explored the caldera and climbed back down again.

View from the top of the crater overlooking the barren lava fields. there is a white speck in the distance which is a car. In the horizon there is another mountain range — See how far we’ve come

The complete journey took us about 2 1/2 hours, which included stopping for lots of photos.

Lady and man at the rim of the crater facing the camera. the man is standing behind the woman with his arms around her waist — It was really windy at the rim

unlikely surprise

Now we never know what we’re going to find or see when we make our trips, and this one was no exception. From a distance, we saw a person dressed strangely and dancing around.

They appeared to be doing some ritual. Once we were close enough to take a good look, we realized it was, in fact, a couple of young ladies who were shooting a short movie.

Lady sitting on the sandy desert ground with her legs half crossed. Her face is painted in white makeup. She is wearing a fur hat and an aluminous jacket — Random film shoot

Talking of movies, Amboy Crater was one of the filming locations for the 1959 film “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Fires were set inside the volcano to give the illusion that it was erupting.

On returning to the car, it was time for a quick cuppa – courtesy of our Colmans camp stove and then back on our way to check out the ghost town of Amboy.

amboy crater – in a nutshell

Address: Old Route 66, Mojave Desert, Amboy, CA
Hours – 24/7
Free
Early morning is cooler to hike. We spent 2 1/2 hours including taking photos
Little to no cell service on the hike
Wear appropriate clothing – long-sleeved shirts, a hat, hiking boots or sturdy footwear
Take sunscreen and PLENTY of water
Watch for snakes, scorpions and explosives
Let someone know where you are going
Hike with someone
Always be sensible and stay safe
Leave No Trace – Pack it in – pack it out