Vulcan's Throne
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Vulcan's Throne rises to 1,554 m in Arizona. Mount Trumbull stands 2,441 m to the north-northwest, 14 miles off. The nearest named place is Saddle Horse Spring, a spring 1.4 miles away. 120 named places lie within 25 miles, 40 of them named summits.
The story
Vulcan's Throne is a cinder cone volcano and a prominent landmark on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States. The volcano is adjacent the Colorado River, (thousands of feet above the river) as it is the source material for Lava Falls and Lava Falls Rapids (Vulcan Rapids) one of the largest rapids of the Colorado. Vulcan's Throne, about a mile (1.7 km) west of Toroweap overlook, is part of the Uinkaret volcanic field. The journals of traveler George Corning Fraser record a trip to the summit of Vulcan's Throne in 1914. At the time, the surrounding area was used for sheep grazing, and a small reservoir had been constructed at the base of the volcano. Fraser wrote that
Vulcan's Throne is a pure cinder cone covered with scoriae, cinders, clinkers and peperino lying loose on the surface, with a slope, as near as I could measure, from 28° to 31°. A little sage, many cacti and perhaps some other similar low plants grow on it, but otherwise nothing. Climbing it was like ascending a sand-dune. Every step forward involved slipping half way back and boots were soon filled with painful bits of stone. The cinder cone was formed during the Quaternary Period, and is cut by recent movement on the Toroweap Fault.
The damming of the Colorado River by the lava from Vulcan’s Throne, produced major rapids. The Lava Falls Rapids are so large that they can be heard on certain days, from the adjacent overlook of Toroweap Point.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7943454, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1554 m
How to reach it
120 named places within 25 miles
- McKee Point: 3.6 mi
- Mount Emma: 6.1 mi
- Slide Mountain: 9.1 mi
- Petty Knoll: 9.7 mi
- The Dome: 10.6 mi
- Saddle Horse Spring: 1.4 mi
- Warm Springs: 1.5 mi
- Warm Springs: 1.5 mi
- Warm Springs: 1.6 mi
- Honga Springs: 2.2 mi
- Lava Falls: 1.5 mi
- Toroweap Point: 2.3 mi
- Toroweap Cliffs: 5.8 mi
- Big Point: 6.0 mi
- Aubrey Cliffs: 6.5 mi
- Whitmore Rapids: 8.5 mi
- Beaver Falls: 19.9 mi
- Mooney Falls: 20.8 mi
- Two Hundred and Fivemile Rapids: 20.8 mi
- Fiftyfoot Falls: 21.1 mi
- Wings of Time: 1.5 mi
- TUWEEP Church: 6.6 mi
- Grand Canyon National Park: 17.5 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Vulcan's Throne. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Trumbull | NNW 346° | 2,441 m | 13.6 mi |
| Mount Logan | NW 322° | 2,388 m | 12.4 mi |
| Mount Emma | WNW 301° | 2,342 m | 6.1 mi |
| Slide Mountain | NW 325° | 2,308 m | 9.1 mi |
| Petty Knoll | NNW 326° | 2,292 m | 9.7 mi |
| Craigs Knoll | NNW 345° | 2,188 m | 17.4 mi |
| Prospect Point | S 187° | 2,098 m | 19.2 mi |
| Yellow John Mountain | WSW 258° | 2,056 m | 22.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:37 | 18:10 | 18:44 |
| June solstice | 05:16 | 19:15 | 19:54 |
| September equinox | 06:21 | 17:57 | 18:31 |
| December solstice | 07:41 | 16:42 | 17:22 |
Local time (America/Phoenix).
Inside the official boundary of Grand Canyon National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Jan and Feb; busiest: Jul.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/359253161
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