Ubehebe Crater

The Ubehebe Craters (a volcanic area) are west of Scotty's Castle at the north end of the Death Valley National Park. A paved road leads to an overlook at the west side of Ubehebe Crater, the largest and most recent crater in the volcanic field. Ubehebe Crater is about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide, and 770 feet (235 m) deep. Steeply dipping red-, orange-, and yellow-colored Quaternary age alluvial fan deposits are exposed in the side of the crater (Crowe, 1990). Layers from different ash and scoria eruptions are exposed around the rim and as debris caving into the crater. A small ephemeral pond fills with water only are rare, infrequent storms that provide precipitation to the crater area.