Meteor Crater

Visiting Arizona's Meteor Crater

• Hours: Open year round, except December 25
• Reservations: Not required
• Cost: Admission charged
• Location: Off I-40 between Flagstaff and Winslow, directions below
• How Long: Allow about two hours
• Best Time to Visit: In the summer, arrive before it gets too hot, especially if you want to take the rim tour
• Discover more sites on our Northeast Arizona Circle Tour

Fifty thousand years ago, a rock fragment broke away from an asteroid and hurtled toward earth. Estimated to have been 150 feet across and weighing 175 tons, it entered the earth's atmosphere traveling 40,000 miles per hour and crashed into what is now the Arizona desert. Within seconds, it created a crater over 4,000 feet across and 950 feet deep, strewing debris over a one-mile radius.

The terrain created by the impact, now called Meteor Crater, remains barren and rocky, resembling the surface of the moon so much that Apollo astronauts trained here.

Meteor Crater Review

Visitors at Meteor Crater can view the crater and exhibits about its formation. Things to see and do here include:

• Interactive Learning Center: 24 exhibits about meteorites and asteroids.
• 10-minute film about the impact
• A 1,406-pound meteor fragment, the largest found in the area
• One-hour guided rim tours (hiking shoes required) take you one-third mile around the crater rim.
• Not up to a hike? Try the four observation areas and telescopes.

Meteor Crater Facilities

Pets are not allowed in the Meteor Crater facilities, and there are no kennel facilities either. Take turns staying with your pet.

• Clean restrooms
• Gift shop
• Sandwich shop, restaurant
• Meteor Crater RV Park: 71 pull-through spaces

Getting to Meteor Crater

Meteor Crater
Winslow, AZ
800-289-5898
929-289-5898
Meteor Crater Website

Meteor Crater is west of Flagstaff and east of Winslow, Arizona. Take I-40 exit 233 and follow the signs to Meteor Crater.