Visiting the Second Largest Meteor Crater in the Country - The Odessa Meteor Crater

The Odessa Meteor Crater gets its name as it is located right outside of Odessa, Texas. It is one of a number of craters in the area that were created due to impacts with a number of meteorites around 63,000 years ago.

According to the National Park Service, the Odessa Meteor Crater is one of only two known meteor sites in the country, and the second largest impact crater in the United States. The crater was first discovered in 1892, and was determined to be an impact crater in the 1920s.

Originally the crater was about 100 feet deep, but over the millennia the crater has slowly filled in, and now is only nine to fourteen feet deep.

In this video we visit the Odessa Meteor Crater (and make a stop at Odessa's Stonehenge), walk down into the crater, and explore it's history.

[gonativeoverland]

Native Texan here. It's a difficult task to make anything in Odessa sound amazing. Good job!

[sheikhboyardee]

I was there years ago & there was no buildings, no museum or even signs. You just parked & walked into the crater. Nice thing to visit.

[stevecraigsnightowlracing]

Native Odessan here. Thanks for shining light on our dusty corner of Texas.

[RetroRobbin]

Man it’s desolate out there. Thanks again for taking us along Steve.

[billwilson-esyn]

There are two small meteor craters in East Texas somewhere near Henderson. Those were used by the Caddo for tribal mettings since an orator at the bottom can be heard by everyone sitting along the sides. In NW Indiana there are the remains of the Kentland Crater. In 1880 two farmers found solid rock one foot below the top soil. They opened up a rock quarry to find layers of different rock standing straight up. In 1971 geologists declared it was the rebound dome inside an ancient meteor crater that has disappeared due to erosion and glaciers. They said the dome lost 900 feet in height for the same reasons. The diameter of the dome is 3 miles wide so the crater was huge.

[johnnyfreedom]

Another great vacation, thanks for taking me along! The best thing our parents ever gave us kids was the love of travel! Tell your son he may not realize how lucky he has been until he's older!

[JohnCouch-mf]

Once again Steve, you bring entertaining history mixed in with your unique humor to educate us on another out of the way place. Always look forward to what you might have next. Thank you!

[semiproactive]

Your drone shot really shows the vast open space of the area. Thanks Steve. Go Giants.

[lavenderlamp]

Texas immigrant here. Always looking for cool things to feed my interest in geology in this gigantic state. You just gave me my next road trip!

[barbaramai]

I love your videos, Steve! It is interesting to me that you provide so much information on a place or something that, initially, seems so nondescript. Your endeavors help to make them more important to the makeup of our great country. Thank you!

[michaelsimonds]

Thank you again, Mr. Adventures! One thing I noticed in this video is the increasing sophistication of the dialog. As always your information is interesting; in this edition, though, the humor is outstanding! I can picture four boys with shovels . . . Put some of them to work reopening that shaft.

[davidtaylor]

Thanks for your video. In 1970 on a vacation trip to Disney land from South Georgia I intentionally planned trip to stop at Odessa to see this crater. Upon arrival we found the site was closed and fenced off. No explanation given. I have always wondered what that crater looked like. Now after all these years I finally know. Truly surprising how shallow it is and unimpressive.

[johnnyfreedom]

Another great vacation spot, thanks for taking me along! Whenever I need 10 minutes of peace, I just turn on one of your videos! Looking forward to the next one Steve! The best thing my parents ever handed down to us kids was the love of travel!

[garlicgalore]

I enjoy your videos of places off the beaten path, and especially how you linger over a shot so we can get a good look at things. Your pacing is refreshing!

[thesarge]

I gotta say the museum looks a lot better than the crater, maybe that's why it's free. THE SARGE

[revvyhevvy]

Great post, Steve!
Underwhelmed by the crater!

[ChrisMartinez-jmkj]

As a native of Odessa, when I first heard about the crater, I had to go see this and In my mind I was picturing a deep impact crater. When I got there, there were no buildings, no parking lot, no fences and I asked, where is it? and I was told, it's in front of you! I could have walked thru it and not even know it... Nice to know the facts now and it would be worth a second visit. Thanks Steve, Great job. Hope it was worth visiting us here in West Texas.

[josephstanick]

Very interesting. First time I heard of the Odessa Meteor Crater.

[michaelsmodelrailroading]

I had to smile at your little story about the hole you and your buddies (brothers? cousins?) dug at your grandfather's place. It brought to mind childhood adventures on my own grandfather's farm with my brother and my cousin. Unsupervised boys can get into no end of mischief, even on the barren plains around Odessa. But my grandfather was mostly bemused by our shenanigans. Fortunately, we never set the barn on fire.

[xlx]

Thanks again, Steve. I've been through Odessa a few times, never knew about this.