El Malpais National Monument

El Malpais National Monument in west-central New Mexico, managed by the National Park Service, protects 114,000 acres of volcanic lava flows, cinder cones, sandstone canyons, and natural arches along the eastern edge of the Colorado Plateau. The name, Spanish for 'the badlands,' refers to the rough, jagged lava flows that cover much of the monument — some erupted as recently as 3,000 years ago, making them among the youngest basalt flows in the contiguous United States. The monument features several geologically distinct landscapes accessible from two main corridors. Along NM-117 on the eastern side, La Ventana Natural Arch is easily reached on a 0.25-mile trail and is one of the largest natural arches in New Mexico, framing a sandstone bluff landscape above the lava field. Several lava tube caves — including Junction Cave and the Big Tubes Area — are accessible for self-guided exploration and contain ice formations that persist year-round in the cold interior. The 7.5-mile one-way Zuni-Acoma Trail crosses the main lava flow along an ancient Native American trading route connecting Zuni Pueblo to the west and Acoma Pueblo to the east, traversing a black basalt landscape marked by rock cairns. Adjacent BLM land managed as the El Malpais National Conservation Area on the western NM-53 corridor provides additional sandstone arch and canyon hiking near Sandstone Bluffs Overlook. Wildlife including pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and golden eagle inhabit the open lava plains. The visitor center in Grants, New Mexico, 80 miles west of Albuquerque on I-40, interprets the volcanic geology and the ancestral trading routes across the hardened flows.