Danakil — Erta Ale

Volcanoes & CratersAfar,Ethiopia

An Ethiopian volcano with a lava lake churning since 1906, climbed at night in the hottest place on Earth, where three plates pull apart.

September·Quiet month

Jun–Oct

Through deep summer the depression bakes toward 50°C, the fiercest heat on Earth, and most operators stop running trips to the Erta Ale volcano. The volcano keeps smoking, and only toward October does the killing heat start to ease.

Year-round The Danakil stays Earth's hottest place every day, and Erta Ale is still erupting. But the lava lake that made it famous drained in the 2017 flank eruption, refilled over the following years, then dropped out of sight again after the eruptions of November 2025 and January 2026. Guides say it may be years before it is reliably visible, so do not come on the promise of open lava.

Erta Ale has kept a lake of molten rock churning in its summit crater since at least 1906, the longest-lived lava lake on Earth and one of only about eight anywhere. This low shield volcano, just 613 metres high, rises from the Danakil Depression in northeastern Ethiopia, where three tectonic plates are slowly pulling away from one another. The floor of the depression sinks to around 125 metres below sea level, and it is the hottest place on Earth by year-round average: nearby Dallol once logged a mean annual temperature of 34.6°C. The volcano's name means smoking mountain in the Afar language, and it has erupted without pause since 1967, its dark crust splitting and healing over the restless lava below. Afar salt miners have crossed this ground with camel caravans for centuries. Reaching the rim is a small expedition. Tours cross the desert along tracks worn by those caravans, then make the final climb to the summit at night, when the lava shows best. For decades the reward at the top was a lava lake you could look straight down into. It drained in the flank eruption of January 2017, refilled over the following years, then sank out of sight again after the eruptions of November 2025 and January 2026. What the pit gives now is heat, the sharp reek of sulphur, and glow in the cracks of the crust rather than an open lake. Nearby, Dallol spreads a crust of neon-yellow, green and orange salt terraces over some of the most acidic springs known. The region can be visited only on organised tours with an armed escort, arranged overland from Mekelle. Check what the volcano is actually doing before you commit to the crossing; the answer has changed from year to year since 2017.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Even in the "cool" season it stays around 30–35°C — November to February is the only sane window, and even then expect no shade and nights camping rough near the crater.
You cannot go independently — the Afar borderland requires an organized tour with a mandatory armed escort, arranged overland from Mekelle; permits and a local guide are non-negotiable, not a formality.
Carry far more water than feels reasonable — bring a dust mask for the sulphur fumes, a headlamp for the night climb, and thick-soled boots; the crust near the vent can be scaldingly hot underfoot.

Things to do

1
Climb Erta Ale to the crater by night
Most groups save the final ascent for late evening, hiking the volcano's low black slopes by headlamp once the desert cools. What looked like dull grey rubble in daylight starts to glow ahead of you as you near the summit.
2
Sleep rough on the rim with the pit for a nightlight
Expeditions bed down rough on the rim itself, with no shelter. Step up to the edge where the rock drops sheer into the pit. What waits below depends on the year: since the 2017 drainage the level has risen and fallen, and after the 2025–26 eruptions it sits too low to see. What still reaches you is the heat off the crust, the gas, and glow working through the cracks once it is dark. On glowing nights that is the nightlight; on the rest it is the desert sky. Linger past dawn and the pit turns a dull, cracked grey-silver, with thin red lines still creeping between the cooled slabs.
3
Cross Dallol's acid-crusted salt terraces
On the same overland trip, walk the burning flats of nearby Dallol, where acidic springs crust the ground in sulfurous yellows, greens and rust-orange. Watch your footing and breathe through the fumes; it is some of the most alien terrain on the planet.

Watch

Nearby

233 km