Dante's Descent - Yavapai County, Arizona GPS: N35° 16.330' W112° 35.434' (WGS 84) July, 28, 2002 home: page 1 View a route map for this trip. Dante's Descent (a.k.a. Devils Hole), is a natural sinkhole located 200 miles Southeast of Las Vegas. Dante's Descent is approximately 15 miles northwest of Ash Fork, Arizona which is midway between Kingman, AZ and Flagstaff, AZ. The sinkhole is a circular vertical cavern with an opening measuring approximately 60 x 80 feet and has a vertical drop of about 380 feet. I visited the sinkhole on a trip back from Flagstaff, unfortunately my visit was only long enough to look down the hole and take a few pictures. To travel to Dante's Descent from Las Vegas, travel Southeast on US 93 for about 84 miles to Kingman Arizona. Travel East on I-40 past Kingman for about 90 miles to Exit 139. Travel Northwest on Route 66 for a short distance then make a right turn onto a well traveled dirt road. From there the GPS coordinates will guide you there. Dante's Descent is approximately 3 miles from the turn off. Turn off Coordinates: N35° 13.842' W112° 35.141' (WGS 84) The sinkhole was formed many thousands of years ago when a cavern deep below the surface collapsed causing a vertical shaft to form. Over the years people have carelessly dumped trash including abandoned cars, tires and barbed wire into the sinkhole. A few years ago, a massive clean-up operation was conducted by local cavers and the Bureau of Land Management to remove the trash from the bottom. Unfortunately, people have continued to throw tires and other trash into the sinkhole. Warning: Use caution when approaching the sinkhole. The entire edge has a lot of loose rock and slopes inward into the pit. home: page 1   Contact the author at speleo@intermind.net Photographs and information in this website may be copied or distributed for personal use only. For other uses, express permission by the author must be given. Use of appropriate photo credits requested.