We pulled over at A’a Trail, then headed up Lenox Crater Trail to get a good view of the gentle sloping crater and Mount Elden.
Lenox Crater Trail is rated ‘strenuous’ by the official monument signage. I have trouble with strenuous hikes. While this trail has the sharpest elevation gain in the monument, I think I would have needed to wear shoes without traction and leave my water in the car and attempt it in early afternoon in the dead of summer to earn that ‘strenuous’ rating. So I had plenty of energy left over to get Goomz over to the Bonito Vista and around the unpaved but well-maintained Lava Flow Trail.
Photos do Sunset Crater few favors. Even though I could still see the road from most points on the trails and I was far from alone, there were moments where I heard absolutely nothing. That silence and the stark, black landscape... absolutely worth it.
