Sandstone Bluffs is the easiest, most rewarding viewpoint in the monument. A short drive off Highway 117 puts you on top of a 200-foot sandstone cliff looking out across the full sweep of the lava beds, with Mount Taylor — a 3,400-metre dormant volcano — rising on the horizon. From up here the contrast between the pale sandstone, the black basalt and the green ponderosa pine on Mount Taylor's flanks is genuinely striking.
There are no facilities, just an unmarked parking area and a network of informal paths along the rim. Watch your step: the bluff edges are unfenced and the drops are real. Sunset is the moment — the sandstone catches a long pink glow that can stop you mid-sentence. Pack out everything you bring in.