Capulin Volcano National Monument

Stop at the visitor to get the pass. Neat gift shop as well. The road up the volcano is wide enough, but please do go slow. Good size parking lot. The views at this point are incredible. You can see for dozens of miles all around. Take the path around the rim with a 300-foot elevation change. Or take the path down to the caldera, again a couple hundred feet difference. Plaques along the trails offer nice insight to formation, lichen, and the surrounding paths and prominences. Really cool place to learn some stuff for all, with a somewhat easy hike. I believe the entire path is paved, so wheelchairs should have access.

Great experience. Hiked the rim. It was July and we went at 8am. Beautiful views! Had occasional benches and good informational signs. The visitor center was clean with good selection of gifts. Rangers were great to answer any question.

Not much hiking here, but the views make up for it! Great visitor center with awesome gift selection

We’d driven by Capulin on several previous trips, but I’m so glad we took the time to visit today. My FIL’s National Parks pass made entry a breeze, though $7 per carload is a real bargain and well worth supporting the parks service. Including a brief visit to the visitor center the whole visit was just over an hour to walk both the vent trail and the rim trail. There are lots of great informational signs along the trails and the trails are well-maintained with benches for resting and enjoying the scenery. Be sure to take your time with the steep paths, especially if you have trouble with the altitude. Pro-tip: there is a toilet at the top, but the ones at the visitor center are nicer.

Brilliant, well worth a visit. The day of our visit there was snow and ice, the crater road was closed in the morning. There are 2 shorter hikes starting at the visitor center. By the time we finished with that the road was opened and we could walk around the crater rim. Beautiful views.

So much more than I'd expected! In just a few hours you'll become an expert on volcanoes colon how they are formed, and the future thermal activity of our planet. The Rangers could have been a little more friendly, but the exhibits and Pathways were fabulous. Some sections were closed for repaving during our visit, but there was still much to see. The cramp ground looks like a fun place to try.

When driving up to this thing it is truly awe inspiring, you can see it for miles away, it has a nice visitors center with some cool exhibits. The best thing is driving to the top and seeing the views! There is a nice walking trail around the rim and a cool walk to inside the cone also! You must stop and visit this park on the way through!!

I was torn on how to rate this place. If you’ve never been anywhere.. it’s just “meh”. The visitor center is quaint, but has the passport area with custom sticky notes (if you’re a nerd like me and collect the cancellations.) the staff were really nice and the place was clean. The actual monument and hike itself was underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, the view for being that part of New Mexico was great, but it was a 1 mi hike around a big hill. Not too exciting. I suppose it’s cool that it was a volcano. I was able to show my kids volcanic rock. The visitor center has a little 15m movie explaining the place, but holy cow the BUGS were insane! My 5 year old daughter almost fell off the trail down the 300 ft elevation gain… while beating the bugs off of herself. On a positive note, they don’t bite, but for a little girl scared of anything with 6 legs, it was terrifying. 100s of insects stuck all over our clothing. If you are passing and have time to kill, why not. Definitely do NOT recommend if you have a big rig OR are towing. Parking lot doesn’t allow for turn around.