10 Fascinating Volcano Trails

Some hikes have you wind past waterfalls or wander through wildflowers, but if you want explosive drama, there’s nothing like walking on a volcano. In these wild places, molten rock rose and steam split the earth and violently redrew the view. Each step is a reminder the ground beneath is very much alive. 

These fiery landmarks are closer than you might think, with trails throughout the U.S. leading across lava domes, craters, and ash fields that serve as Earth’s creative outtakes.

Let’s take a look at 10 trails that trace those forces—but remember, some of these magmatic marvels are merely napping. It’s important to always check current conditions and safety protocols before heading out, as closures and other critical changes can occur overnight.

1. Cerro La Jara Loop // Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico
2. Kīlauea Iki and Crater Rim Trail // Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai‘i
3. Ubehebe Crater Rim Trail // Death Valley National Park, California
4. Trails in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes // Katmai National Park, Alaska
5. Crater Rim Trail // Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Oregon
6. Mount McLoughlin Trail // Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon
7. Lava Falls Trail // Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
8. Broken Top Loop Trail // Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho
9. Monitor Ridge Trail // Mount St. Helens, Washington
10. Bumpass Hell Trail // Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

Cerro La Jara Loop // Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico

Hiking Cerro La Jara is like stepping into a small alien land. The name translates to “Rockrose Hill” in Spanish—a nod to the tough plants that survive here—and you’re getting a true volcano trail. This hike circles a rhyolite dome in the middle of the Valles Caldera, a giant volcanic bowl formed by an eruption 1.2 million years ago that was so enormous it left behind a crater 12 miles wide. In 1964, NASA brought Apollo astronauts here to study the formations, figuring the cooled lava might be good training for the barren lunar landscape. The trail is an easy 1.5-mile hike past prairie dog colonies, grasslands, and views of the caldera’s other domes. It’s less “one small step,” more “pleasant afternoon stroll.”

Kīlauea Iki and Crater Rim Trail // Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai‘i

Few hikes let you walk on an old lava lake, but the Kīlauea Iki Trail, a four-mile loop, does exactly that. In 1959, a spectacular eruption filled this crater with fountains of molten magma shooting nearly 2000 feet into the air. Today, the floor has cooled into cracked black rock that you can walk across, with steam vents reminding you the volcano is only resting—just catching its breath, really. The Kīlauea Iki trail links to the longer Crater Rim Trail around Kīlauea’s summit caldera, where eruptive episodes have happened as recently as October 2025. It’s one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, making closures common, but when conditions are safe, it’s like stepping inside a volcano’s beating heart.

You May Also Like:

• See What the Inside of a Volcano Looks Like, Courtesy of Some Unlucky Drones
• 12 of America’s Most Dangerous Hikes
• 15 Amazing Archaeological Sites You Can Hike To
  

Add Mental Floss as a preferred news source!

Ubehebe Crater Rim Trail // Death Valley National Park, California

In a desert already famous for extremes, Ubehebe Crater adds another layer of drama to Death Valley. But this half mile-wide chasm wasn’t carved by wind or water—credit for its construction goes to steam. Underground magma hit the groundwater here around 2000 years ago, creating a phreatic eruption and excavating a 500-foot-deep pit in the earth, a formation known as a Maar volcano. Walking the 1.5-mile rim trail delivers dizzying views down into the crater, while the loose cinders remind you of the force it took to make a hole this huge. Smaller, older craters dot the area, so the hike feels like wandering around nature’s demolition derby.

Trails in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes // Katmai National Park, Alaska

In June 1912, Novarupta unleashed the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century— 30 times more powerful than Mount St. Helens—with ash plumes rising more than 100,000 feet. The blast blanketed surrounding scenery with hot ash and pumice, starting a surreal new world that explorer Robert Griggs dubbed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Today, a bus ride from Katmai’s Brooks Camp connects hikers to trailheads in the valley. Walking across the ash plain feels eerie in an environment somewhere between ruin and rebirth, where streams cut through soft deposits and fields of fumaroles, making the valley floor look raw more than a century later. 

Crater Rim Trail // Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Oregon

Stretching 20 miles around the rim of a vast volcanic basin, this hike shows off the stunning sweep that is Newberry Volcano, one of the Cascades’ most underrated (and barely sleeping) giants. Newberry last erupted about 1300 years ago, making it a young volcano, geologically speaking. It sent out lava streams that resulted in the glossy Big Obsidian Flow, which trekkers can traverse today. In addition, the caldera holds two sparkling lakes—Paulina and East—that make the trail feel positively alpine. Cinder cones and hot springs dot the landscape, providing a vast view of volcanic features across approximately 1200 square miles. If you don’t have the stamina for the full nine-hour loop hike, shorter trails let you explore fun features like mile-long lava tubes.

Mount McLoughlin Trail // Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon

Mount McLoughlin doesn’t get ready to rumble anymore, but its conical profile dominates southern Oregon. And though it’s dormant, last erupting tens of thousands of years ago, it’s part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which very much poses a future threat. Summiting McLoughlin is a five-mile challenge that climbs through forest, pumice slopes, and, eventually, some chunky lava. It’s a classic stratovolcano: a steep, cone-shaped, “composite” volcano built of alternating layers of ash and lava flows. From the top, the view offers a panorama of volcanoes that remind you the entire Cascade chain is built on fire. Some parts aren’t finished breathing flames.

Lava Falls Trail // Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

The Grand Canyon is better known for erosion than eruption, but it does have a volcanic backstory written on the cliff walls. Plunging from the North Rim to the Colorado River, the 2.8-mile Lava Falls Trail drops through layers of volcanic basalt laid down by the Uinkaret volcanic field. Over thousands of years, eruptions spilled lava into the canyon, damming the river’s path of progress at some points. Hiking this trail gives takers a front-row seat to black rock layers stacked on red canyon walls. Prepare for a grueling climb back up, but considering the combination of geologic forces here—lava and water, eruption and erosion—Lava Falls Trail offers one of the most stunning short stints to go rim to river.

Broken Top Loop Trail // Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to walk on the moon? The aptly named Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve gives those who have dreamed of being an astronaut the next best thing. NASA used the site as another training ground for Apollo astronauts in 1969 because the area’s jagged lava flows sweep out for miles, similar to the look of lunar land. Cinder cones claw upward like blackened teeth, and twisted tree molds mark the spot where entire forests were swallowed by molten rock. Broken Top Loop Trail is a popular, easy, 1.8-mile hike that weaves through lava fields, around small craters, and past lava tubes, encircling the park’s youngest cinder cone. With the last eruption only about 2000 years ago, this park features fresh geological action. 

Monitor Ridge Trail // Mount St. Helens, Washington

Few hikes come with a view into a volcano’s very guts, but climbing the 4500 feet over five miles on Mount St. Helens does. While most of the lava and ash from its notable 1980 eruption went upwards, some went sideways when a giant blast of hot gas, ash, and rock erupted laterally. Two-hundred-and-thirty square miles or forests were flattened and airborne ash was scattered across the seven seas within weeks. The eruption left behind a horseshoe-shaped crater, lava dome, and blast zone that remains scarred. Hikers can take the Monitor Ridge Trail past pumice plateaus and old lava flows to the rim of this slightly slumbering beast. From the top, you can look directly into the fiery heart of the volcano, which reminds adventurers that this peak isn’t a relic. Mount St. Helens is still active and looking to make some noise.

Bumpass Hell Trail // Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

Lassen Peak last erupted in 1915, but the area simmers with powerful pyroclastic promise. Nowhere is that clearer than Bumpass Hell, the largest hydrothermal area in the park, which is reached by a three-mile round-trip trail. The boardwalk winds past bubbling mud pots, fizzy fumaroles, and sulfur-stained ground in various shades. The rotten-egg smell of sulfur that surrounds hikers is unmistakable, and the constant hissing of steam feels like the earth is trying to give you a warning. It’s a hike that proves you don’t need to see the lava running toward you to know a volcano is alive.