Death Valley - Ubehebe Crater
Blog: of heliotropes and silver strings - 23 August 2009
By: AmyR
Besides just being fun to say over and over, Ubehebe (pronounced YOU-bee-HEE-bee) Crater is quite worthy of the drive to the far northwest corner of Death Valley where it can be found. This crater, formed by a steam eruption, is roughly 2,400' in diameter and 500' deep. You can hike to the bottom of the crater, but I won't envy you what has to be an exhausting climb back up to the rim.
Instead, this time I took the path more traveled, I took the route around the rim. It was just a short 1.5 mile walk, and you get to view the beautiful variegated strata of sediment in the crater. I tried to identify the gray sand and the bright red dirt, but I am apparently a poor geologist. I guessed there was an alluvial fan because, well, isn't there always? And it turns out I was partially right. The layers of the eastern wall are fanglomerates - alluvial fan deposits hardened into rock. For those more curious about rock, the Death Valley government site has very detailed information.
If you can time it right, I recommend going at the golden hour. I'm sure the colors of the crater light up in a lovely, otherwordly fashion. Also? If you have better tires than we did at the time, go on and take the rocky road past Ubehebe to the Devil's Racetrack. You'll pass Teakettle Junction on the way, and maybe, just maybe, you will be lucky enough to see the rocks that move of their own volition on the racetrack.
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