How to See Shiprock Up Close
Shiprock is a monumental volcanic plug in a vast open expanse in the northeastern New Mexican desert. It is similar to the more famous Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, except that it is nearly twice as tall. Devil’s Tower does display beautiful columnar basalt around its circumference and its symmetry is visually pleasing, but it resides in mountainous undulating terrain, so seeing the monument from a distance comes in spurts as you crest nearby hills. Shiprock, however is visible over the horizon for dozens of miles in every direction, looming over the desert. The southwest is dotted with volcanic spires, but Shiprock stands out both for its sheer magnitude (At over 1500ft. tall, the One World Trade Center in New York is the only building in the U.S. taller than it) and for it’s location in a relatively flat expanse of New Mexico.
What exactly is Shiprock?
Volcanoes work their way up toward through Earth’s crust and if they pierce the surface they can ooze magma onto open land, which is the case in much of New Mexico. The magma that forms the vertical shaft in the center of a volcano cools when its heat source is removed and the leftover rock is harder and more resistant to erosion than the rest of the material that makes up the sloping sides of a typical volcano. Over millions of years, the sides of the volcano are eroded away and the hardened volcano throat is all that remains.
How do I get there?
Once you first catch a glimpse of the towering structure it’s hard to take your eyes off of it as it gradually gets larger and larger. If you’d like to see it up close and personal though, you’ll have to go off road. The trail that takes you right to the base of the rock is rutted and rough, but it can be done in any vehicle with decent clearance (think a mid-sized SUV or larger). Just take it slow and you should be fine, as long as you approach from the south. Routes from other directions are quite a bit more challenging, and it’s easy to get lost finding the right track to take. This is sacred land to the Navajo people, so it is imperative that you do not stray from the current trails. If you can’t see a way past an obstacle it does not give you the right to forge your own path.
The easiest route is to take US-491. 7.5 miles south of the city of Shiprock, turn onto Indian Service Route 13. After another 7.5 miles you will turn right, leaving pavement onto hard dirt packed trails. There aren’t many rocks, but the it is fairly rutted in spots, most likely from people attempting this voyage on wet soil. This may be impassible if the road is wet, but in dry conditions it’s not bad. The closer you get, more and more offshoots branch of the primary road. Use your best judgement to get as close as you want, but respect the land and stay on existing paths.
