I was crossing New Mexico on Interstate 40 when a sign for El Malpais National Monument caught my attention.

Ancient lava flows.

That sounded worth a detour.

El Malpais National Monument: Ancient Lava Flows in New Mexico

A few miles later, I found myself standing atop Sandstone Bluffs, looking out across a landscape unlike anything I had ever seen. Below me stretched miles of black volcanic rock, frozen in place and spilling across the desert as far as I could see.

At first glance, it looked still.

But the longer I stood there, the harder it became not to imagine it in motion.

Thousands of years ago, this wasn’t a field of rock. It was a river.

Molten lava poured across the landscape, flowing around hills, filling low spots, and carving its way across the desert floor. From above, you can still trace its path. Here it narrows. There it spreads wide. In some places it appears to have pooled before continuing onward.

Standing on the edge of the bluffs, I found myself trying to picture what it must have looked like.

The glow.

The heat.

The slow, unstoppable movement of an entire landscape changing before your eyes.

Today, all that remains is silence.

The lava has cooled. The desert has reclaimed the space around it. Wind moves across the cliffs and the occasional traveler stops to take in the view before continuing on their way.

Most drivers on Interstate 40 probably pass within a few miles of El Malpais without ever seeing it.

I almost did.

Instead, I pulled off the highway and spent an hour wandering along the edge of an ancient lava flow.

Eventually I got back in the car and continued west.

The lava was still there when I left. The cliffs were still there. The wind was still moving across the desert.

For a little while, though, I had stopped long enough to notice them.

@travels_with_martin El Malpais National Monument, Grants, NM. #elmalpais #elmalpaisnationalmonument #lavafields #nationalmonuments #nationalmonumentpark #grantsnm #grantsnewmexico #explorenewmexico #visitnewmexico #travelswithmartin #vanlife #fyp #foryoupage ♬ Viva La Vida – Coldplay