Strawberry Crater is a 6526 ft cinder cone volcano in the San Francisco volcanic field

San Francisco volcanic field

The San Francisco volcanic field is an area of volcanoes in northern Arizona, north of Flagstaff, USA. The field covers 1,800 square miles of the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau. The field contains 600 volcanoes ranging in age from less than 6 million years old to less than 1,000 years ,...

, 20 miles North of Flagstaff

Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, in between the boundaries of the Wupatki National Monument

Wupatki National Monument

The Wupatki National Monument is a National Monument located in north-central Arizona, near Flagstaff. Rich in Native American ruins, the monument is administered by the National Park Service in close conjunction with the nearby Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.Wupatki was listed on the...

 and Sunset Crater National Monument in Arizona Wilderness lands. Several other cinder cones surround it, including the better known, taller and younger Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater is a volcanic cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in U.S. State of Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument....

 in the adjacent Sunset Crater National Monument.

Name

The cone shape, and the bright red cinders that created the cone resemble a giant strawberry.

Geology

During several active periods, roughly between 800 and 1064 BCE, sharp, colorful cinders were brought to the surface. The cone stems from volcanic eruptions within this time period.

Archaeology

Low walls made of stacked rocks dot the crater rim. These are Native American ruins, but their nature is uncertain, as they appear to be too low for habitations.

External links

• National Monument: Sunset Crater. NPS. http://www.nps.gov/sucr/index.htm
• National Monument: Wupatki. NPS. http://www.nps.gov/wupa/index.htm
• National Forest Service: Strawberry Crater Wilderness http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/peaks/strawberry-crater-wild.shtml
• University of Montana: Wilderness Net http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=580