Trails › United States of America › New Mexico › El Malpais National Monument

Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway

Trail27 km · 17 miBest Apr–Oct

Next nearby hike: Pack Trail 4.8 mi · 7.8 kmExplore El Malpais National Monument →

New Mexico, United States of AmericaEl Malpais National MonumentAcoma-Zuni Trail · El Malpais National MonumentContinental Divide National Scenic Trail/Zuni-Acoma Trail · El Malpais National MonumentEl Calderon Trail · El Malpais National MonumentPack Trail · El Malpais National MonumentEl Malpais National MonumentNew MexicoHole In The Wall Trail · New MexicoThe Narrows · New MexicoEndStart10 kmN ↑

Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)

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USGS National Digital Trails (US public domain) · OpenStreetMap · Basemap: OpenFreeMap (OpenMapTiles, © OSM contributors).

7-day forecast

Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)

Best time to hike

Best months: Apr–Oct · highs 16–27 °C (61–81 °F)

  1. J4°-8°23
  2. F7°-6°21
  3. M11°-3°26
  4. A16°1°20
  5. M21°6°18
  6. J27°11°16
  7. J27°14°55
  8. A25°13°69
  9. S23°10°39
  10. O17°4°28
  11. N11°-2°22
  12. D4°-7°24

Average high °C · low °C · precipitation mm per month. Highlighted: best months.

How we pick months

Best months are those where the 1981–2010 average daily high is 10–27 °C (50–81 °F), the average overnight low is 0 °C (32 °F) or warmer, and average precipitation is 200 mm (7.9 in) or less. Values are long-term monthly averages for the ~1 km cell at the trail point on the map, from CHELSA V2.1 climatologies (Karger et al., CC0), not a forecast. Higher or more exposed parts of a route can be colder, wetter or snowier.

About this trail

About 27 km (17 mi) long, Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway is a trail in New Mexico, United States of America. It lies about 34 km southwest of San Rafael. It connects with Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.

Short summary written from the trail facts on this page.

Trail facts

Length
27 km · 17 mi (agency length field)
Source
USGS National Digital Trails (US public domain)
Managed by
Bureau of Land Management
Data from
Bureau of Land Management
Nearby park
El Malpais National Monument (0.22 km from the boundary)
Nearest town
34 km SW of San Rafael (Cibola County, New Mexico) · GeoNames
Connects to
Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (National Scenic Trail: Continental Divide) (at its start or end)
Best months
Apr–Oct
Country
United States of America
Region
New Mexico
Continent
North America
Route centre
34.8986, -108.1485
How it’s scored

Hikers can rate difficulty from 1 to 10 (1 = flat, short, easy walk for anyone; 3 = gentle hills, a little effort; 5 = moderate climbs, some fitness needed; 7 = steep or long, solid fitness required; 10 = extremely strenuous or technical; long steep climbing; experienced hikers only). The community average is shown once at least 3 people have rated the trail; until then the official or computed score is used when we have one.

Nearest trails

distance from the trail centre

Pack Trail

4.8 mi · 7.8 km · El Malpais National Monument

El Calderon Trail

9 mi · 15 km · El Malpais National Monument

Acoma-Zuni Trail

14 mi · 23 km · El Malpais National Monument

Continental Divide National Scenic Trail/Zuni-Acoma Trail

16 mi · 25 km · El Malpais National Monument

Gooseberry

36 mi · 59 km · Cibola National Forest

Tampico Springs

37 mi · 60 km · Cibola National Forest

All trails in New Mexico → · All 36,834 trails in United States of America →