Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Katmai National Park and Preserve was created by the massive Novarupta eruption of June 6 to 8, 1912, when pyroclastic flows buried part of the Ukak River valley under deep ash and produced one of North America’s most dramatic volcanic landscapes. Once an unnamed pass used by Alutiiq people and wildlife, it became famous after Robert F. Griggs explored it in 1916 and found steaming fumaroles across the ash plain. Though the steam has largely faded, erosion now reveals the eruption’s layered deposits, and the wider Katmai area remains active. The valley also later served as a training ground for Apollo astronauts.

King Salmon, Alaska · United States