Meteor Crater

50,000 years ago, an iron-nickel meteorite collided with earth and morphed an otherwise flat landscape into a deep bowl 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across. In 1902, a Philadelphia mining engineer, Daniel Barringer, purchased the two acres encompassing the crater and began a 27 year search for the iron laden meteor he believed to be buried beneath the floor of this impact site. These ruins are from his on-site headquarters for the exploration.


The Barringer family still owns crater property and since 1941 has developed what they feel is a public trust where geologists and even the Apollo astronauts have trained and studied. Tours are given daily which include a walk along the rim of this well preserved impact site.

Our fearless leader, Lane, and his grandson, Mathew are seen here taking in the view.

Some of those Little Plastic Trailer People posed below the rim.

Here are those same brave tourists perched precariously on the edge of certain doom if they take one misstep. (Bravo, Little Plastic Trailer People, Bravo!)

Before leaving this educational side trip, in an attempt to let the force be with them, they laid hands on the Barringer Meteorite, an 800 pound piece of the giant meteor which was recovered from 2 1/2 miles away. (Oscar smiled and said we looked like a bunch of space cadets.)