Capulin Volcano

The Capulin Volcano National Monument in New Mexico is on Highway 325 about 5 miles southwest of Folsom, NM. One can drive up to the rim and there are also walking trails. There is no turnaround on the road to the volcano rim, so once you begin you must go the entire distance to the top.

Capulin Volcano from Space

According to the National Park Service, the park Visitor Center is situated at 7242 feet elevation and the rim climbs to 8182 feet. While Capulin Volcano is one of the most accessible volcanoes in the United States, the crater rim has an elevation change of nearly 500 feet.

The drive to the rim is via a 2 mile road. The road is 2 lanes and paved but follows the curve of the mountain which limits the size of vehicles able to pass each other comfortably. The maximum size of a vehicle allowed on the Volcano Road is 26 feet in length and/or 8 feet in width. The park service states "In order to accommodate large vehicles (motorhomes, buses, etc.), we must stop traffic. We will try our best to accommodate visitors who have larger vehicles, but accommodation will depend upon staffing and the number of vehicles at the top of the volcano." I suggest anyone with a larger vehicle stop at the visitor center and discuss with the park ranger.

If you are towing a trailer or towed vehicles you will have to stop at the visitor center and unhitch it and leave it at the center. If you are driving an RV towing a vehicle, you will have to unhitch and drive the smaller vehicle to the rim.

We stopped at the visitor center before proceeding on the volcano road. After determining the dimensions of the road and the restrictions we proceeded in the RT and easily made the 2 mile drive to the top top and down again.

Once we reached the parking at the rim, we were able to walk the trails and view the Raton-Clayton volcanic field, and the visitor's center in the distance.