Western Railroad Discussion > Views from the Amboy Crater

I first found the Amboy crater (east of Ludlow, just west of Amboy on old route 66 in California) about 10 years ago on one of my winter trips to the Mojave Desert; I've been back a couple times since then.  I think that the views from the rim of the crater may be the best distant views in the desert.  You can see from around Cadiz in the east to beyond Baghdad in the west (20 miles or more) with the backdrop of the Bristol Mountains and other smaller hills.  The crater is south of the BNSF tracks, so the light is generally good.  What surprises me is that there have been almost no pictures from the crater rim posted on this site.  Some years ago another person posted one picture, and I added two more.  I've found nothing since then (I searched for "Amboy Crater.")

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2984832,2985183#msg-2985183

I am certainly not as good a photographer as many others on this site, but I thought that I would post a few pictures from last December in the hopes of enticing others to follow.  I will start with a description of getting  to the crater.  First, however, I should emphasize that this is something to do in the late fall, winter, or early spring, not the summer, when temperatures in the area are routinely in the 100s.  There is essentially no shade available.  The BLM has signs emphasizing the need to bring lots of water, and that is good (really life-saving) advice for much of the year.  I've never been there with the temperatures above the upper 70s, but that can still feel quite warm.  The trail starts at a parking lot off old route 66 a short distance west of Amboy, with pit toilets and a view of the crater.  From the parking lot there's a reasonably clear trail that goes one and a half miles (one way) to the west side of the crater, where the volcanic activity left an opening that the trail goes up.  The first picture shows the crater from the parking lot with the west side on the right.  The second picture shows the inside  of the crater.  The trail to the immediate left is the way up to the rim.  Once there you can find a spot to sit (it's hard lava, so there aren't any really comfortable places) or move around.  The rim trail goes almost all the way around, and you can move from place to place for slightly different views.  There are several other trails down further along the rim; the picture shows one of them.  You need to be careful going up, but it's not that bad if you have any hiking experience and are in at all decent shape.  The touchy part is coming down.  Especially if you are without treking poles (and probably even if you are) you will be feeling your way carefully, using your hands at times, and possibly sitting down at places.  It can be done quite safely if you don't rush it.  This means, incidentally, that you need to have a knapsack or other place to store your camera equipment, snacks, and water so your hands will be free.

I took the third picture from the rim; it shows an eastbound that is a little west of the crater.  The black surface in front is part of the lava field that the crater created when it was active.  I will post a number of additional pictures to give an idea of what you can see from the rim.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/19 16:16 by BobB.

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These first of these pictures shows a westbound heading away from the crater and already well in the distance.  The second two show the same eastbound pretty much passing the area  of the crater; the third especially shows the mountains behind the tracks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/19 12:00 by BobB.

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The first of these pictures shows a westbound east of the crater, the second zooms in on the mountains with a westbound below them, and the third shows the settlement of Amboy (gas station, restaurant, once a motel) with a westbound coming into the road crossing.  It also shows the mining activity in the mountains behind the settlement; I think (but am not sure) that the mining is presently dormant.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/19 17:30 by BobB.

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These three final pictures are of the same train as in the last picture.  The first two show the mountains in the background while the third shows the BLM parking area for walks to the crater.  I hope that these pictures give some idea of the grand emptiness of the area and how trains can almost get lost in it.  I'd be happy to see other and better pictures of this isolation punctuated by a steady stream of trains and not much else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/19 16:18 by BobB.

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Very interesting.

as many times as i have been on a train running past that crater, i have always thought it would be neat to explore it (in the winter).  thanks for taking the time to make the hike to the crater and post the images.........

66

Cool photos. Made my first trip by there a few weeks ago. Didn't have time to look at the crater; no idea it was that large passing on Rte 66.

For those (like me) that don't have the gumption to hike all the way out to the crater, there's a lava flow a bit west of there that comes all the way to the road. You can climb up on it a bit and get nice views of the railroad with some of the lava formation in the foreground. 

Very nice images and well documented. I was there briefly and I mean briefly in June 1998. Pretty much did the parking lot with not much exploring. A little hot. Love to visit again in cooler weather. Great post!

Posted from iPhone

Great stuff!

I believe the mine in the distance is active. Off the road to the east that goes north to I40. Capt.