Amboy Crater

Route 66/National Old Trails Hwy., Amboy, CA
Phone:

East < GO > West

A bit over a mile west of Roy's at Amboy you'll spot the Amboy Crater on the south side of the road. The crater rises 250 feet and is about 1,500 feet across at the rim. At some point in time molten lava flowed out the west side of the crater flowing over parts of 24 square miles. The last volcanic eruption here is estimated to have occurred somewhere around 10,000 years ago. The volcano is reportedly around 75,000 to 85,000 years old. The site is managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), which has an informative visitor information flyer about the crater.

GPS: 34.544514, -115.789944

The crater is about 2.5 miles south of Route 66, this sign marks the access road to the crater. This is the desert so take precautions when climbing to the rim which takes about 1 to 1.5 hours. January to March might a good time for the trip because the air temps are cooler than in the heat of summer. If you plan to climb to the rim, be sure to take plenty of water and sunscreen. Parking and restrooms are available near the base of the crater. The crater was recognized as a National Natural Landmark in 1973.

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Vintage Advertising Highlights

AMBOY CRATER
Amboy Crater is located along highway 66 a short distance from the town of Amboy. A foot trail leads to the top of this 200 foot cone of dark gray pumice and lava. The area has one of the lowest average rain fall than any place in the desert. The average rainfall is 2.3 inches: in four out of twenty years it had no rain. Along the railroad are lonely stops without water or shade, names like Siberia and Klondike where the summer temperatures soar to a blistering 120 or above.

The Amboy Crater - Active between 500 - 600 years ago.
On U.S. 66

NOTE: I don't have a date for these postcards. The first says the cone is 200 feet tall, others sources say more like 250 feet. When it was published you'd probably get a card like this at places like Roy's in Amboy. It's interesting that the card talks about rain fall in the area and the names of towns along the railroad.

The second card tells us a lot less about the crater other than it sits near Route 66, which also dates the card to post 1926. The biggest bit of info is the "active" date for the volcano, which are very different than other estimates, but hey, why quibble about +/- 10,000 years.

Photo(s): Spring 2013