Meteor Crater in Arizona | Planetary Scar

Roadtrippers site showed a rather unique attraction in Winslow, AZ that was just within a few mile radius along my general route. I was solo road tripping so I could go wherever and whenever I wanted. So I drove to check out the Meteor Crater in Arizona and to see what the ‘experience the impact!’ was about. 

Experience the impact!

The daring call for adventure enthusiasts was written on a big billboard welcome sign that you can’t miss as you approach the Meteor Crater in Arizona site.

So there I was, an inhabitant of the earth, looking at the rather amazing deep scar on our home planet caused by a meteorite from space. It was from a relatively small meteorite, but it still looks enormous.

How the Crater came to be

Per some readings, more than 2 million tons of TNT was the recorded force of the celestial object that made this remarkable planetary crater upon impact a huge hole in the ground. 200 million tons of TNT!

Others say it is just a hole, yes, but a rare one at that. It was formed by a 130’ wide meteor; it is 2.4 miles in circumference, nearly one mile across, and more than 570 feet deep. It is so huge, that the tourists looked so small in comparison to its size. The whole crater won’t fit into a regular camera from any of the vantage points, you need a wide-angle lens, or in today, ones or even phones with panoramic capabilities.

Meteor Crater in Arizona

The crater is located in a place like in the middle of nowhere in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. It is about 37 miles east of Flagstaff and 18 miles west of Winslow, and about 6 miles from Route 66/ I-40. My GPS didn’t point me to the exact location. So I just had to keep driving since I was several miles into the trip.

The admission associate attending to me was a sweet older woman, and I saw a couple of them. The admission fee was $18 per person. Was it worth the experience to see the crater, a part of earth history, in person? Yes. At least once.

There was a telescope where you can see the spaceman they positioned in the middle of the crater. It gives you an idea of how big it is. They now have Google Earth images where you can take a tour inside the hole and find the spaceman :-).

For a unique Meteor Crater, it was surprising to learn that it was privately owned [by Barringer Crater Co]. It has a museum, theater, gift shop, and Subway to eat at. The Crater is the largest, most well-preserved meteor crater, impact site, in the world. 

Meteor Crater in Arizona is an international destination that welcomes both scientists and visitors from around the world. The venue features indoor and outdoor viewing areas, as well as guided rim tours of the crater. The facility also houses an Interactive Museum and Discovery Center. A wide-screen Movie Theater, and the Astronaut Memorial Park within the Visitor Center are also featured. Amenities include a Rock/Mineral and gift shop, an RV Park and convenience store, as well as a Subway restaurant.

#The impact crater of a Meteor.
#The most well-preserved impact site in the world.
#Planetary Scar.