Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Though the dam crest is long gone, the tower still stands.
Den Hvide Jomfru (The White Maiden)
The front of the mosque.
Şakirin Mosque
Ornate decorations are part of some of the music boxes.
Terranova Music Box Museum
Take some of Michigan’s produce home with you.
American Spoon
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Take some of Michigan’s produce home with you.
American Spoon
The local catch is delicious fried as well.
Terry's of Charlevoix
Carlson’s Fishery is a Great Lakes institution.
Carlson’s Fishery
Books are available inside for borrowing or purchase.
Cathedral Café
Exterior of the historic Dyffryn Arms pub.
Dyffryn Arms
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
1 day ago
Though they’re protected inside the park, wolves can be killed when they cross its borders.
Wolves Have a Bad Reputation. One Yellowstone Naturalist Is Trying to Fix It.
1 day ago
Passersby stop to admire the punny offerings of Brooklyn’s only dinosaur bodega.
We Visited the Dino Bodega in (Jurassic) Park Slope
4 days ago
Native Americans have a longstanding, rich, and vibrant culture in Wyoming.
Wyoming’s Sacred Landscapes: A Journey Through Native American History
4 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Saudi Arabia Al Wahbah Crater

Al Wahbah Crater

This giant volcanic crater holds its very own field of salt.

Saudi Arabia

Added By
Amal Aladwani
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Al Wahbah Crater   SariSabban on Wikipedia
Al Wahbah Crater   SariSabban on Wikipedia
Al Wahbah Crater   SariSabban on Wikipedia
Al Wahbah Crater   SariSabban on Wikipedia
Closeup of Crater floor   JSmith / Atlas Obscura User
Lava Flow near the north rim of Crater   JSmith / Atlas Obscura User
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
Lava flow along north edge of crater   JSmith / Atlas Obscura User
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Located in middle of an otherwise flat, barren desert, the Al Wahbah Crater is a natural anomaly that would be wondrous enough on its own, but it hides its own salt field in its bowl.

The giant crater was long thought to have been created by an ancient meteor strike, but has been found to have appeared thanks to volcanic activity. It is thought that the crater appeared after a massive underground steam explosion that was caused when a magma flow ran into a subterranean source of water. The resulting eruption would have launched a colossal amount of earth into the air, leaving behind the crater that exists today. At 1.2 miles across and over 800 feet deep, it is an impressive pock mark on the planet.

While giant craters are interesting and lovely on their own, the Al Wahbah Crater also holds a dazzling white salt flat in its depths. The white phosphate plain forms a pattern of beige psychedelia that makes the spot all the more attractive. In addition to the weird salt deposit, the crater is also notable for the green vegetation that grows on and around its rim. While the desert all around the crater is arid and barren, the crater is home to palm trees and shrubs.

In recent years, the Saudi Arabian tourist industry has set their sights on the crater, building roads and markers to the site to make it easier to visit, making it an increasingly popular camping site. That is, until another massive explosion changes the landscape again.        

Related Tags

Craters Geology Natural Wonders Nature

Know Before You Go

254 km from Taif on the western edge of the Harrat Kishb basalt plateau

Community Contributors

Added By

amal

Edited By

AgincourtDB, aribrown, EricGrundhauser, Max Cortesi...

  • AgincourtDB
  • aribrown
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Max Cortesi
  • JSmith

Published

September 25, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Wahbah_crater
Al Wahbah Crater
Saudi Arabia
22.900892, 41.138877

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Middle East

Places 29
Stories 5

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Middle East

Places 29
Stories 5

Related Places

  • Painted Dunes from the top of the adjacent cinder cone.

    Old Station, California

    Painted Dunes

    Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

  • The crystal clear lagoon was once an underwater volcano.

    Vila Franca Do Campo, Portugal

    Islet of Vila Franca do Campo

    A perfectly circular lake is formed by the crater of an ancient underwater volcano.

  • Laguna Quilotoa

    Ecuador

    Laguna Quilotoa

    A turquoise lake within a volcanic crater.

  • Rivière-Koksoak, Québec

    Pingualuit Crater Lake

    A lake in the middle of the tundra of Quebec is said to be the purest freshwater lake on Earth.

  • The Vredefort Impact Crater

    Vredefort, South Africa

    Vredefort Impact Crater

    The world's largest impact crater is mainly eroded but still remembers the planet's violent history.

  • Rivière-aux-Outardes, Québec

    Lake Manicouagan

    A lake formed in the basin of a massive impact crater takes the shape of an unbroken ring when viewed from above.

  • Kings Bowl and Great Rift from air. King’s Bowl is a phreatic explosion pit 280 feet (90 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) wide, and 100 feet (30 m) deep, caused by lava meeting groundwater and producing a steam explosion 2,200 years ago. (Wikimedia Commons)

    Arco, Idaho

    Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

    Home to the deepest rift anywhere on Earth.

  • Wizard Island

    Crater Lake, Oregon

    Crater Lake

    The deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in legends.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.