Skip to content

Monday, Mar. 2, 2026

Is Arizona home to thousands of volcanoes? 

Mia Osmonbekov, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

Yes. Arizona has thousands of extinct volcanoes across seven volcanic fields. The San Francisco Volcanic Field in northern Arizona alone has produced more than 600 volcanoes, including Sunset Crater and the San Francisco Peaks.

Three of the state’s volcanic fields are still considered active, though eruptions are rare. The U.S. Geological Survey says future eruptions are possible but would likely pose little hazard because of their small size. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

See all fact briefs

The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.