All photos face north to west, on the left side of the road if heading northeast on State Route 4.


The sere landscape at the beginning of the caldera, completely unlike anything in the Jemez Mountains to the south.


The Valles Caldera is over a million years old, but the area is still volcanically active. The last eruptions from the caldera were a relatively recent 50,000 years ago, and there are hot springs and other geothermal activity in the area. (Jemez Springs, for example, is a historic site to the south on State Route 4, and hot water still flows through the Soda Dam.)


The time spent on the edge of the caldera crater is relatively brief if you're driving through, so a couple of pauses are necessary to capture the unique scenery inside.


Two last photos, looking left and right, recapping the caldera scenery.

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Road photos from State Road 4
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