Red Cones

Red Cones are two cinder cones in the eastern Sierra Nevada of central California, near Devils Postpile National Monument in Inyo National Forest. Formed by eruptions about 5,000 years ago, they were built from loose cinders that accumulated into steep-sided twin cones. Those eruptions also produced a basalt lava flow from the southern cone that traveled about 1.5 kilometers toward the upper Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Geologically, Red Cones mark the southern end of the Mono-Inyo Craters, and their magma has the same origin as the rest of that volcanic system, tying them to one of eastern California’s notable young volcanic landscapes.

California · United States