• Sweeping panoramic views of lava flows, cinder cones, and distant mountains can be enjoyed at Sandstone Bluffs.

    El Malpais

    National Monument New Mexico

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  • All caves in El Malpais National Monument are closed to recreational use.

    This closure is due to a combination of factors including the outbreak of a fungal disease that is killing millions of bats. Read more at our Nature and Science page. More »

Curriculum Materials

A naturalists guides students in observing a prairie dog colony at El Malpais.

A naturalist guides students in using binoculars to observe a prairie dog colony at El Malpais.

NPS

Malpais Mysteries!

This curriculum guide is aimed at the 4th grade level, but can be adapted as needed for most elementary level instruction. Click on the title below to download the document.

Malpais Mysteries (22.4 Mb pdf)

 

Activity Sheets

These documents can be printed on clear material and used as transparencies, or color printed on paper to explain the forces of volcanism.

The Fire Triangle (41 Kb pdf)

Lava Tube Formation (55 Kb pdf)

Life in the dark (29 Kb pdf)

Volcano Formation (45 Kb pdf)

Aa Lava (104 Kb pdf)

Pahoehoe Lava (77 Kb pdf)

Pyroclastic Flows (56 Kb pdf)

Did You Know?

Cerro Rendija is a shield volcano

Cerro Rendija volcano, just west of Big Tubes in El Malpais National Monument, is a good example of a shield volcano. Low viscosity lava spread out rapidly from the vent and kept the volcano from gaining much vertical height. More...