From the trailhead it's a 10 mile out and back hike to the O'Leary Peak Lookout Tower.
Near the start of the hike the trail skirts the Bonito Lava Flow, one of several lava flows that flowed out from the base of Sunset Crater Volcano.
Ponderosa Pines growing in the Bonito Lava Flow.
Ponderosa Pines and Aspens in a cinder field in front of the Bonito Lava Flow with Sunset Crater in the backgound.
A stand of Aspens along the trail.
A Ponderosa Pine needles and cones litter the cinders at the edge of the Bonito Lava Flow.
Aspens at the edge of the Bonito Lava Flow.
Sunset Crater rising above the Bonito Lava Flow.
O'Leary Peak from the lower section of the trail. The highest point on the point on the left at 8938 feet. O'Leary Peak Lookout sits a little lower 8916 feet on the right peak. The rounded dome on the right is Darton Dome.
A closer view of O'Leary Peak, a lava dome valcano.
Penstemon (Penstemon sp.).
Overlooking the Ponderosa forest toward the Bonito Lava Flow.
Overlooking the Ponderosa forest toward the Bonito Lava Flow.
Sunset Crater is a cinder cone volcano.
Sunset Crater.
A view of the trail as it works its way up O'Leary Peak.
Sunset Crater.
Arizona Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata var. arizonica). Aka Arizona Skyrocket.
Phacelia (Phacelia corrugata).
Arizona Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata var. arizonica).
Storm clouds over Sunset Crater.
Sunset Crater.
Sunset Crater.
O'Leary Peak Lookout Tower visible through the trees.
A small cave seen from the trail.
Butter and eggs (Linaria dalmatica).
Very interesting brilliant pink flowers of the Slimleaf Limabean (Phaseolus angustissimus).
Sunset Crater.
Ponderosa pine cones collecting in a ditch alongside the trail.
Wasp on Poison Milkweed (Asclepias subverticillata).
Wasp on Poison Milkweed (Asclepias subverticillata).
Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus).
Looking down on the green meadow of Bonito Park.
Purple Loco (Oxttropis lambertii). This locoweed is very poisonous to livestock.
Purple Loco (Oxttropis lambertii).
A view through the pines toward the San Francisco Peaks
A view of the San Francisco Peaks and the Inner Basin.
Beautiful wood patterns in the trunk of a long dead pine.
A green cone of the Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) dripping with sap.
Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) cones.
Needles of the Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis).
Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) soaring above a beautiful backdrop of the San Francisco Peaks.
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii pine cone.
Sunset Crater.
A view looking into the San Francisco Peaks' Inner Basin.
Color dots the hillside with purple from Purple Loco, red from Arizona Gilia, and yellow from Broom Groundsel.
Purple Loco, Arizona Gilia, and Broom Groundsel add a splash of color to the slopes of O'Leary Peak.
A tangle of wooden arms.
San Francisco Peaks.
Nearing the O'Leary Peak Lookout Tower.
The final climb to the lookout tower is badly washed out and lined with a metal grating.
Closeup of the rusty metal grating.
O'Leary Peak Lookout Tower.
A view of the San Francisco Peaks from the O'Leary Peak Lookout Tower.
A view of Sunset Crater from the O'Leary Peak Lookout Tower.
Broom Groundsel (Senecio spartioides) near the top of O'Leary Peak.
Closeup of Broom Groundsel (Senecio spartioides).
Sunset Crater.
The pure white flower of Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa), a member of the rose family, spotted with beetles.
Arizona Gilia.
Arizona Gilia.
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Pink Windmills or Slimleaf Plainsmustard (Schoenocrambe linearifolia).
Ponderosa Pine growing at the edge of the Bonito Lava Flow with the silhouette of Sunset Crater in the background.
Young Aspens at the edge of the Bonito Lava Flow.
Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides).