• 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 »

Fire Management

Wildland firefighters monitor the effects of a prescribed burn in a meadow.

Four Winds Fire Group crews monitor the effects of prescribed fire in a meadow.

NPS

The Four Winds Fire Program

Five NPS units in New Mexico and Arizona collaborate in this program: El Malpais, El Morro, Petrified Forest, Petroglyph, and Salinas Pueblo Missions. The mission of the Four Winds Group is to safely protect life and property while managing fire as an integral part of the environment and ecosystem.

 

Four Winds Program NEWS!

Check out the latest fire program activities in El Malpais. Prescribed fire, training, wildland urban interface, it's all here.

NPS Fire Management - go here to check out all the details of fire management in the National Park Service.

 

El Nino may be a no-show this winter

Dry conditions continue across much of the southwest. Even though winter is at hand, snowpack is very low in the mountains. For this reason, fire danger remains a concern. Despite previous forecasts that predicted a return to El Nino weather patterns, this has not happened. If the winter continues to be mild and dry, it could set the stage for an early start to the fire season in 2013.

Did You Know?

Bat on cave wall

Bats are the only mammals that fly. El Malpais National Monument is home to thirteen different species of bats. Pregnant Mexican Free-tailed bats join the resident bats during the summer months but leave once the pups are able to fly. More...