12 Otherworldly Volcanic Landscapes: From Lava Tubes to Steaming Calderas

7. Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote, Spain: The Fire Mountains' Fiery Breath

Lanzarote’s Timanfaya National Park is a hauntingly beautiful testament to a series of powerful eruptions in the 1730s that buried a quarter of the island under lava and ash. The "Montañas del Fuego" (Fire Mountains) still radiate intense heat just below the surface; guides demonstrate this by pouring water into boreholes, which erupts instantly as steam, or by cooking food over geothermal heat. The landscape is a surreal tableau of solidified lava flows, volcanic cones, and stark, multi-hued craters, largely devoid of vegetation, offering a profound look at recent, dramatic vulcanism.