Chaos Crags Viewpoint is a pullout on the north side of the park highway, about a mile from the Loomis Museum. It looks toward Chaos Jumbles, the deposit left by rockfall avalanches off the Chaos Crags lava domes around 1660.
Details
- Type
- Overlook
- Accessibility
- Limited accessibility
Overview
The viewpoint faces Chaos Jumbles, a debris-avalanche deposit formed by the partial collapse of one of the Chaos Crags dacite domes. A series of three rockfall avalanches occurred around the year 1660. The first and largest covered about 2.5 square miles and created the undulating, wave-like ground visible today.
What to See
The avalanches moved at roughly 100 miles per hour. Geologists describe the rock as having ridden on a cushion of trapped air, which reduced friction and let the debris travel far before coming to rest. Material near the edges stopped while the center kept moving, freezing the surface into the rolling forms still seen from the pullout. The dacite is thought to have broken loose after years of freeze and thaw weakened the rock on the steep dome slopes.