Inyo Craters Campground

The Inyo Craters are three north-south-aligned phreatic (steam) explosion craters on the summit and south flank of Deer Mountain. Deer Mountain is an approximately 115,000-year-old rhyolite dome in the west moat of the Long Valley Caldera that was erupted from the residual Long Valley Caldera magma. The two southernmost craters average about 660 ft in diameter and are about 200 ft deep. They both contain small lakes. The crater on the summit of Deer Mountain is smaller, irregular in outline, breached on its south side, and dry. The craters were formed in the mid-14th century shortly after the eruption of Deadman Creek, Obsidian, and Glass Creek domes in 1350 CE.

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