Which impact crater in Arizona is the best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth?

The best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth in Arizona is Meteor Crater.

Also known as Barringer Crater, it formed about 50,000 years ago when an iron-rich meteorite struck the desert of northern Arizona. The impact blasted a roughly circular depression into the ground and scattered fragments of the meteorite across the surrounding area. Those fragments are officially known as the Canyon Diablo Meteorite, named after a nearby canyon.

Meteor Crater is about 1.2 kilometers wide and approximately 170 meters deep, with a raised rim reaching about 45 meters above the surrounding plain. Its remarkable preservation comes partly from its relatively young geological age and the dry desert climate, which has limited erosion.

The crater is about 37 miles east of Flagstaff and remains privately owned by the Barringer family through the Barringer Crater Company. It is sometimes confused with Chicxulub crater, the much larger impact structure associated with the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Meteor Crater is far smaller but is one of the world’s clearest examples of a comparatively fresh impact crater.