Bandera Volcano Crater

800 feet deep, Bandera Volcano rose up in volcanic fury some 10,000 years ago. It is one of the finest examples of an erupted volcano in the country, and also one of the most accessible.

A fairly easy 3/4 mile hike climbs around and into the blown out portion of the volcano. It is a unique sight as you round the corner and see that you are standing right where the volcano “blew it’s nose” so to speak.

Layered up as best I can, but still feeling the chill

I chose to visit the volcano, and adjoining Ice Cave, this past Monday before the cold weather was to set in. This did not stop it from being mighty chilly, but it was the 30 MPH gusts of wind that really bit at me. For a good portion of the trail I was exposed on the volcano side and faced into the wind. Luckily I didn’t try any Rambo, manly-man moves and layers up as if it were snowing… which it did as I got into the volcano itself. I wasn’t warm, but I wasn’t freezing enough to detour me from seeing the sight.

A lava spout glares at me as I pass on the nearby trail

It was very eerie, as I climbed up the trail, the feeling that I was in some video-game’s representation of Hell. All the landscape around me was hostile or tormented. Jagged and angry lava rocks surrounded me. Twisted trees, only the ones evil enough to push past the lava rocks, dotted the hillside. Combined with the howling wind, you couldn’t imagine a place closer resembling an evil dragon’s lair or a video-game boss’ hideout. i felt as if I should be approaching on horseback, in full plate armor and my trusty sword at the ready… it was cool!

What might live in the crater below?

Once at the end of the trail, with snow sprinkling down on me, and the gaping 800ft crater below the vision changed. Now I felt a part of that Star Wars movie scene in the desert with the huge worm at the bottom of a crater. It would be easy to imagine that at the bottom of this very crater lived another being that would pop out, shrieking and hundreds of teeth ready to tear me apart.

Sibling volcanoes just to the East. More than 30 volcanoes call this area of New Mexico home.

Volcano’s really are cool places to visit. It is clear that many movie and video game makers must have also visited sights like this for insight in their creations. Even with the wind, the visit was worth it. This has got to be the best volcano hike I have done yet, though my experiences are still pretty limited.