Visit Meteor Crater: World’s Best Preserved Meteorite Impact Site on Earth!

Thirty-five miles west of Flagstaff, Arizona is a giant hole, one-mile in diameter and 550 feet deep. The cause of the hole was a 150-foot wide meteorite that struck that spot 50,000 years ago. The force of the impact was greater than 20 million tons of TNT. Boom! Known as Meteor Crater, it’s the best preserved meteorite impact site on Earth.

If you look at it on Google Maps, you’ll see that it looks like a bullet hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere. Just below the north rim of the crater is the Barringer Space Museum. Whether you’re visiting Flagstaff or just passing through the area, consider stopping at Meteor Crater to learn about impact craters and more.

Here’s a rundown of what you can expect during your visit to Meteor Crater and the Barringer Space Museum.

Tickets and Accessing the Meteor Crater

Like many places, you can purchase tickets online in advance of your visit. Online tickets are $2 cheaper than if you purchase them onsite. Once you purchase the tickets, they are valid for the next 365 days. Simply print out your tickets and bring them with you to the ticket window. There is no specific timed entry, so as long as the museum is open, you’re able to visit.

If you haven’t purchased your tickets in advance, that’s okay. You can grab them at the ticket window just inside the entrance. After checking in at the ticket window, you’re good to proceed up the stairs to the Barringer Space Museum and out to the meteor crater viewpoints.

Getting to Meteor Crater is simple. From Flagstaff, head east on I-40 for about 35 miles. Then take exit 233 and head south. You’ll pass the Meteor Crater RV Park, which offers 71 pull-through spaces, along with some tent sites and more. Best of all, there are private restrooms with showers, laundry and free wifi. If you need a place to stay overnight on your trip, consider staying here.

As you drive down the road to Meteor Crater, there are signs counting down the number of miles to impact. I thought it was a clever way of building the anticipation of your arrival. There are two parking areas, one of which is for RVs or vehicles pulling trailers.

Guided and Self-Guided Tours of the Meteor Crater

At the ticket desk, find out when the next showing of Impact: The Mystery of Meteor Crater is scheduled. The short film shares some information about Meteor Crater and the impact it had on helping identify other meteor craters around the world. It’s a good way to introduce yourself to what you’ll see during your visit.

Immediately following the video, gather near the large meteorite rock on display just outside of the theater. From here, a guided tour will take a group along the north rim to answer any questions about the site, and provide some history. Our guide was newer, but he did a great job sharing stories of plane crashes, mining, and science. We were also able to snap a few selfies and photos of Meteor Crater. Although, it’s one mile wide, so I recommend using the Panorama feature on your camera phone. 😉

If you would prefer to take a self-guided tour, you can access the viewing areas along the north east rim on your own. Follow the walkways and stairs to three different viewing areas:

The Highest Viewpoint

Take the stairs up to the highest viewpoint on the northeast rim’s edge. From the top, there is a single, rotating telescope you can use to check out the area inside and outside of the impact crater. The spot offers an expansive view of the entire crater.

The Viewing Platform

Sticking out over the crater is a wooden platform with metal fences around it. On the far end are several fixed telescopes. Below each of those is a little sign identifying the feature you can see through that given telescope. For example, the mining equipment, a rock the size of a house, or even an astronaut and flag.

The Seated Viewing area

A little further down the path and stairs is a slightly shaded area with some plaques overlooking the crater. This viewpoint is located directly below the Barringer Space Museum. To be honest, we had already seen the Meteor Crater from the other viewpoints, so not sure this one offered something significantly different – other than the fact that it provided shade.

Barringer Space Museum

From the spot of the giant meteorite on display near the theater, you can access the museum area. Take your pick on which direction you choose – left starts with information about impact craters on other moons and planets in our solar system. The right side starts with information about meteors that have fallen to earth.

We began on the left. The first main exhibit was on the craters of the moon (not to be confused with Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho). Don’t rush through the exhibits, but take the time to read and learn about the impact these meteors can make. However, not all meteorites have an impact. There’s a short video from Russia that captures a meteorite entering the earth’s atmosphere and exploding before ever hitting the ground. I remember hearing about that on the news, as it occurred in 2013.

One exhibit we checked out allowed you to see the impact a comet, meteor or other space object can have, based on density and angle of impact.

Which weights more – one pound of meteorite or one pound of earth rock? Trick question, I know. But as you can see from the photo above, the meteorite is more dense (thus heavier) than an earth rock that’s roughly the same size.

The most surprising exhibit was about a meteorite that fell from the sky and into a house in Alabama. Crazy story, and worth reading about.

Cool Fact about Meteor Crater

Beyond the tours and museum exhibits, your kids will enjoy the new 4-D space adventure. This theater fits roughly 12 people and there are motion seats that move to the screen. You’ll feel like your flying through the Meteor Crater as you head into outer space to save the Earth from an asteroid on a collision course with our planet. Once the journey to space is complete, you can exit the theater and head straight to the gift shop for some souvenirs.

Did you know…

NASA has designated Meteor Crater as one of the official training sites for the Apollo astronauts? During the early Apollo moon missions (think 1969-1972), astronauts would come and train in the harsh conditions of meteor crater. They would also learn how to take rock samples, which they would later do on the moon to collect and bring back moon rocks.

Just outside of the 4-D theater is a display case full of items from the Apollo moon missions. As a fan of the early manned missions (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo), I really appreciated learning about this connection between NASA and Meteor Crater.

The Details:

Address: Interstate 40, Exit, 233, Winslow, AZ 86047

Cost: $22 for adults (13-59); $13 for kids (6-12); $20 for seniors (60+). Purchase tickets online and save $2 per ticket.

Hours: During the summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day), Meteor Crater is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day of the week. From Labor Day to Memorial Day, it’s open everyday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Christmas Day.

Website: https://meteorcrater.com/

Phone: (928) 289-5898

Disclosure: I received two complimentary admission tickets to Meteor Crater and Barringer Space Museum for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.

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