Meteor Crater, Winslow, Arizona
Winslow, Arizona
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Windy, 96°
“But to carve the Grand Canyon, Earth required millions of years. To excavate Meteor Crater, the universe, using a sixty-thousand-ton asteroid traveling upward of twenty miles per second, required a fraction of a second. No offense to Grand Canyon lovers, but for my money, Meteor Crater is the most amazing natural landmark in the world.” - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Labeled as “The world’s best preserved meteorite impact site on Earth”, Meteor Crater is located just minutes from Interstate 40 and the old Route 66 Highway in Northern Arizona near Winslow. I have driven past the turnoff signs dozens of times over the years but had never taken the time to go see what this was all about. I remember seeing this location used in the 1985 movie “Starman” with Jeff Bridges and Nancy Allen where helicopters were used, flying into the crater in pursuit of the “Starman”.
Meteor Crater is the breath-taking result of a collision between an asteroid traveling 26,000 miles per hour and planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago.
The Crater is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 700 feet deep.
Panorama view of Meteor Crater
It has been an international tourist destination with outdoor observation trails, air conditioned indoor viewing, wide screen Movie Theater, Interactive Discovery Center, unique gift & rock shop, and Astronaut Memorial Park at the Visitor Center located on the crater rim. Like other destination on this adventure, there were many Oriental’s walking about, taking photos, and looking at all of the displays.
Crater with shadow of cloud passing over
It was hot and windy standing on the crater’s edge, looking over into the deep “hole” in the earth. It was eerie to think something traveling so fast hit the earth pushing up the dirt and rocks spreading them for miles around. It looked like you could see the direction from which it fell as the angle of the crater’s rim on one side was slightly lower and the markings in the bottom of the crater appeared to show discolorations in one place moving toward the center “hole”.
Crater with light colored impact area off to one side
There seemed to be monitoring equipment on the bottom surface, as well as, a small shed. There was a “center hole” with a fence around it that could be seen through a telescope on the crater rim. It was very interesting to me as I love history but others may think it just another “hokey” tourist trap just off the interstate.
Close up of Crater bottom (shed and equipment off to side)
The Meteor Crater RV Park was nice, as it is located off the highway about a mile and about five miles from the Crater.
Sunset from RV Park
I did another roof repair on the RV in the hot sun and when coming down the RV’s ladder, slipped and fell, scraping up my left leg and bruising my ribs. Just another example of my clumsiness while Traveling Life’s Highways.