El Malpais National Monument
The richly diverse volcanic landscape of El Malpais (el-mal-pie-EES) offers solitude, recreation, and adventure. Explore incredible geologic features such as young lava flows, cinder cones, lava tubes, and sandstone bluffs. While some may see a desolate environment, people have been adapting to and living in this extraordinary terrain for generations. Come visit the land of frozen fire!
Alerts
- ClosureNPS ↗El Calderon Trail closed for construction through November 2026
The El Calderon Trail and parking area are closed from August 2025 through November 2026 for a major improvement project. NPS Road 100 will remain open for local traffic only, and the Continental Divide Trail will remain open for CDT thru-hikers.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Because we're fee-free, El Malpais does not offer any interagency passes. To receive an interagency pass, visit a park that charges a fee or purchase them online at US Geologic Survey (USGS) website.
Hours
| El Malpais National Monument | Daily · All Day |
When to go
May draws the most visits here and January the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- El Malpais Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
Located on exit 85 off I-40 in Grants, NM, the El Malpais Visitor Center is staffed by park rangers from the National Park Service. Stop in for maps, information, orientation, cave permits, a Western National Parks bookstore, museum exhibits, and park movies.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- See a Bat Outflight at Bat Cave1-2 Hours
On warm summer evenings, Mexican free-tailed bats burst from a lava tube known as Bat Cave for a night of hunting insects over the lava flows of El Malpais National Monument.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the El Calderon Trail1-3 Hours
El Calderon Area at El Malpais National Monument offers easy to moderate difficulty hiking past lava tube caves, over ancient lava flows, and around the top of an extinct cinder cone. This trail can be hiked as a 3 mile or 5 mile route.
Opens on the Park Service site - Traverse the Lava Falls Trail1-2 Hours
Take a hike on the youngest lava flow in El Malpais National Monument and in New Mexico. You will encounter numerous unique volcanic features on this one- mile cairned route.
Opens on the Park Service site - El Malpais Night Skies1-8 Hours
Explore the Milky Way, countless stars, and planets any time of year! You don’t have to travel far into El Malpais to look deep into space!
Opens on the Park Service site - Explore Sandstone Bluffs Overlook15-60 Minutes
Gaze across one of the youngest lava flows in the continental U.S. from the vantage of a high sandstone bluff created during the time of the dinosaurs.
Opens on the Park Service site - Visit La Ventana Natural Arch20-30 Minutes
La Ventana Natural Arch is a beautiful natural arch formation located just off Highway 117 in El Malpais National Conservation Area.
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 8Hide
- Hike the Narrows Rim Trail1-6 Hours
Spectacular panoramic views of the lava flows at El Malpais and surrounding landscape are the main attraction of this hike. You may also encounter ravens and other birds of prey enjoying the thermal uplifts here.
Opens on the Park Service site - Follow Ancient Footpaths on the Zuni-Acoma Trail2-8 Hours
Hike across a historic trail that connects the pueblos of Acoma and Zuni. This strenuous 7.5 mile hike is an El Malpais classic hike.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
News
- National Park Service Announces Stage II Fire Restrictions beginning June 22, 2026 for El Malpais and El Morro National Monuments ↗2026-06-18
As a result of the high fire danger, Stage II Fire Restrictions are being implemented in El Malpais and El Morro National Monuments, effective June 22, 2026.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Historic landmarks nearby
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Forest Service trails nearby
These trails are outside the park on National Forest land, within 15 miles of El Malpais. Each one opens on Trailhead Atlas.
Distance is measured from the park's reference point to the nearer end of the trail.
Guidebooks for New Mexico's national parks and the Southwest
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 192 birds, 58 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Barn Owl · Burrowing Owl · Cooper's Hawk · Ferruginous Hawk · Flammulated Owl · Golden Eagle · Great Horned Owl · Hen Harrier · Long-eared Owl · Merlin · Mountain Pygmy Owl · Northern Saw-whet Owl · Peregrine Falcon · Prairie Falcon · Red-tailed Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Spotted Owl · Swainson's Hawk · Turkey Vulture
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Coot · American Wigeon · Black-crowned Night Heron · Blue-winged Teal · Bufflehead · Cinnamon Teal · Common Goldeneye · Common Teal · Great Blue Heron · Green Heron · Northern Pintail · Ruddy Duck · Snowy Egret · Virginia Rail · White-faced Ibis
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Avocet · Killdeer · Least Sandpiper · Long-billed Curlew · Long-billed Dowitcher · Mountain Plover · Ring-billed Gull · Solitary Sandpiper · Willet · Wilson's Phalarope
Gamebirds & dovesBlue Grouse · Common Pigeon · Gambel's Quail · Mourning Dove · Scaled Quail · White-winged Dove · Wild Turkey
WoodpeckersAcorn Woodpecker · Downy Woodpecker · Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Ladder-backed Woodpecker · Lewis' Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Red-naped Sapsucker · Williamson's Sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsBlack-chinned Hummingbird · Broad-tailed Hummingbird · Calliope Hummingbird · Magnificent Hummingbird · Rufous Hummingbird · White-throated Swift
Also on the checklistAmerican Bushtit · American Cliff Swallow · American Crow · American Dusky Flycatcher · American Goldfinch · American Grey Flycatcher · American Pipit · American Redstart · American Robin · Ash-throated Flycatcher · Barn Swallow · Bendire's Thrasher · Bewick's Wren · Black Phoebe · Black-and-white Warbler · Black-headed Grosbeak · Black-throated Sparrow · Blue Grosbeak · Blue-gray Gnatcatcher · Brewer's Blackbird · Brewer's Sparrow · Bridled Titmouse · Brown Creeper · Brown Thrasher · Brown Towhee · Brown-headed Cowbird · Bullock's Oriole · Canvasback · Canyon Wren · Cassin's Finch · Cassin's Kingbird · Cassin's Sparrow · Cedar Waxwing · Chipping Sparrow · Clark's Nutcracker · Common Grackle · Common Nighthawk · Common Poorwill · Common Starling · Common Yellowthroat · Cordilleran Flycatcher · Curve-billed Thrasher · Dark-eyed Junco · Eastern Meadowlark · Evening Grosbeak · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Gray Catbird · Gray Vireo · Great Grey Shrike · Great-tailed Grackle · Greater Roadrunner · Green-tailed Towhee · Hammond's Flycatcher · Hepatic Tanager · Hermit Thrush · Horned Lark · House Finch · House Sparrow · House Wren · Indigo Bunting · Juniper Titmouse · Lark Bunting · Lark Sparrow · Lazuli Bunting · Lesser Goldfinch · Lincoln's Sparrow · Loggerhead Shrike · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Mountain Bluebird · Mountain Chickadee · Northern Goshawk · Northern Mockingbird · Northern Raven · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Olive Warbler · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Painted Whitestart · Phainopepla · Pine Grosbeak · Pine Siskin · Pinyon Jay · Plumbeous Vireo · Purple Martin · Pygmy Nuthatch · Red Crossbill · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-winged Blackbird · Rock Wren · Rose-breasted Grosbeak · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Rufous-crowned Sparrow · Sage Sparrow · Sage Thrasher · Sand Martin · Savannah Sparrow · Say's Phoebe · Scott's Oriole · Song Sparrow · Sora · Spotted Towhee · Steller's Jay · Swainson's Thrush · Tecolote occidental · Townsend's Solitaire · Tree Swallow · Vesper Sparrow · Violet-green Swallow · Warbling Vireo · Western Bluebird · Western Kingbird · Western Meadowlark · Western Scrub Jay · Western Tanager · Western Wood Pewee · Whip-poor-will · White-breasted Nuthatch · White-crowned Sparrow · White-throated Sparrow · Willow Flycatcher · Yellow-breasted Chat · Yellow-headed Blackbird
Small mammalsAbert's Squirrel · Audubon's Cottontail · Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat · Black-tailed Jack Rabbit · Botta's Pocket Gopher · Brush Deermouse · Crawford's Gray Shrew · Deer Mouse · Gunnison's Prairie Dog · House Mouse · Mexican Woodrat · Mogollon vole · Northern Grasshopper Mouse · Northern Rock Deermouse · Ord's Kangaroo Rat · Piñon Deermouse · Plains Pocket Mouse · Rock Squirrel · Silky Pocket Mouse · Spotted Ground Squirrel · Stephen's Woodrat · Tawny-bellied Cotton Rat · Western Harvest Mouse · White-throated Woodrat · common porcupine
PredatorsAmerican Badger · American Black Bear · Bobcat · Common Gray Fox · Coyote · Cross Fox · Desert Fox · Long-tailed Weasel · Ringtail · Striped Skunk · Western Spotted Skunk · common raccoon · hog-nosed skunk
Hoofed mammalsCollared Peccary · Mule Deer · Pronghorn · elk
BatsBig Brown Bat · Big Free-tailed Bat · Black Bat · Brazilian Free-tailed Bat · California Myotis · Fringed Myotis · Hoary Bat · Long-eared Myotis · Long-legged Myotis · Pallid Bat · Pinto Bat · Small-footed Myotis · Southwestern Myotis · Western Pipistrelle · mule-eared bat
Also on the checklistCatamount
Activities
Activity guides for this park Camping in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Stargazing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
All 16 activitiesHide
Weather & climate
As a general rule, daily temperatures swing roughly 30 (F) from night lows to afternoon highs. Summer is sunny and hot with monsoon rain storms and an average high of 80 (F). Winter is cool, sunny, with potential snow storms and an average high of 45 (F). Spring and fall are generally dry with the occasional storm rain and/or snow storm. For more information on weather and current weather conditions visit https://www.nps.gov/elma/planyourvisit/weather.htm
Questions people ask
Does El Malpais charge an entrance fee?
No. El Malpais is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is El Malpais open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Is anything closed at El Malpais right now?
1 active alert as of October 14, 2026: El Calderon Trail closed for construction through November 2026.
Source: Alerts
How busy is El Malpais?
151,998 recreation visits in 2025, number 190 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Is there cell service at El Malpais?
At the park's reference point, FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE and AT&T 4G LTE. No reported coverage for T-Mobile. Coverage inside the park varies by location.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
When was El Malpais established?
1987.
Source: Wikipedia
What is the weather like at El Malpais?
As a general rule, daily temperatures swing roughly 30 (F) from night lows to afternoon highs. Summer is sunny and hot with monsoon rain storms and an average high of 80 (F).
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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