Capulin Volcano, New Mexico

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay


Geologic map of the Raton-Capulin area. Lambert Conformal Conic, standard parallels 30 and 50 N, 200 meters per pixel. The meeting point of Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma is at 37N, 103W; grid lines at 0.1 degree intervals. Pink is igneous rocks, mostly volcanic. Gray and pale yellow are Quaternary, deeper yellow and orange are Tertiary, green is Mesozoic. Blue lines are Interstates, red lines are US highways, magenta lines are other roads.

Topographic map of the Raton-Capulin area. Lambert Conformal Conic, standard parallels 30 and 50 N, 200 meters per pixel. The meeting point of Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma is at 37N, 103W; grid lines at 0.1 degree intervals.



Geologic map of the Raton-Capulin area. Lambert Conformal Conic, standard parallels 30 and 50 N, 100 meters per pixel. The meeting point of Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma is at 37N, 103W; grid lines at 0.1 degree intervals. A narrow tendril of volcanic rocks extends into northwestern Oklahoma, and are the easternmost young volcanic rocks in the U.S.



Topographic map of the Raton-Capulin area. Lambert Conformal Conic, standard parallels 30 and 50 N, 100 meters per pixel. The meeting point of Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma is at 37N, 103W; grid lines at 0.1 degree intervals.


The Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field contains the easternmost Pleistocene volcanism in the U.S., as well as the easternmost 8,000 foot elevations. Capulin Volcano is a well preserved cinder cone with a road to the crater rim.
Capulin Mountain is near the western end of the Oklahoma Panhandle, so you can see New Mexiso, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Colorado from the top. You can even see Des Moines. No, not that one, a wide spot in the road not far to the east.

Below: On the road to the crater.
Right and below: The crater.
Below: Views from the crater rim.
Left: Well-preserved cone with crater, and ridge of resistant lava flows.
Below: Distant views of the Colorado Rockies.
Right and below: Sierra Grande is a small shield volcano to the southeast, and the easternmost 8,000 foot elevation in the United States.

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Created 04 September 2012, Last Update 06 June 2020