Guide Rankings Geography Updated June 15, 2026

States With Volcanoes

Halemaumau lava lake glowing red in the crater of Kilauea volcano at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

States With Volcanoes

Ranking - Geography

Halemaumau Crater at Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Hawaii has 5 historically active volcanoes.

Quick Answer

States With Volcanoes

  1. 1

    Alaska has 130 potentially active volcanoes — more than all other U.S. states combined. California ranks 2nd with 19 and Oregon ranks 3rd with 17.

  2. 2

    13 of 50 U.S. states have at least one potentially active volcano. All 13 are in the West: Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and Montana.

  3. 3

    Hawaii's Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are the only volcanoes in the United States classified as currently active. Alaska has several volcanoes that erupted in the past decade, including Pavlof, Cleveland, and Bogoslof.

Map

States With Volcanoes Map

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States With Volcanoes Map
Rank State volcanoes
1 Alaska 130
2 California 19
3 Oregon 17
4 Hawaii 5
4 Idaho 5
4 Washington 5
7 New Mexico 4
8 Nevada 3
9 Arizona 2
9 Utah 2
9 Wyoming 2
12 Colorado 1
12 Montana 1

All 13 states with potentially active volcanoes are in the West. Alaska (130) and California (19) are the top two, with the remaining 37 states shown in gray.

States With Volcanoes

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Print-ready table — States With Volcanoes

States With the Most Active Volcanoes

Highest

130
Alaska flag
Alaska #1

Top 10 — Volcanoes

#1 Alaska flag Alaska
130
#2 California flag California
19
#3 Oregon flag Oregon
17
#4 Hawaii flag Hawaii
5
#4 Idaho flag Idaho
5
#4 Washington flag Washington
5
#7 New Mexico flag New Mexico
4
#8 Nevada flag Nevada
3
#9 Arizona flag Arizona
2
#9 Utah flag Utah
2

Alaska Has More Volcanoes Than Any Other U.S. State

Mount Katmai caldera in Alaska, formed by the 1912 Novarupta eruption
Mount Katmai's caldera was formed during the 1912 Novarupta eruption, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. Alaska's Aleutian arc and peninsula contain 130 potentially active volcanoes.

Alaska has 130 potentially active volcanoes — more than all other 49 states combined. The Aleutian Island chain and Alaska Peninsula account for most of them. Pavlof, Cleveland, Bogoslof, and Redoubt are among the most frequently active.

Katmai National Park in Alaska preserves the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, blanketed by ash from the 1912 Novarupta eruption — the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. The Katmai volcano group alone contains 15 volcanoes.

The Cascade Range Accounts for Most Contiguous US Volcanoes

Cinder Cone and the Painted Dunes in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
California's volcanoes are concentrated in the Cascade Range and adjacent volcanic provinces. Lassen Volcanic National Park preserves one of the most varied volcanic landscapes in the contiguous United States.

California (19), Oregon (17), and Washington (5) contain the bulk of potentially active volcanoes in the lower 48 states. All lie along the Cascade Range, a chain of stratovolcanoes built by the subducting Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.

Washington's Mount St. Helens — one of 5 Cascade volcanoes in the state — produced the deadliest and most destructive eruption in U.S. history on May 18, 1980. Crater Lake in Oregon formed from the collapse of Mount Mazama roughly 7,700 years ago.

Hawaii: The Only State With Currently Erupting Volcanoes

Mauna Loa rising above volcanic terrain in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Mauna Loa erupted in November 2022 after nearly four decades of quiet. Along with Kīlauea, it is one of the only volcanoes in the United States classified by the USGS as currently active.

Hawaii has 5 historically active volcanoes: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, Mauna Kea, and the submarine Lōʻihi. Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are the only two volcanoes in the United States rated as currently active by the USGS.

Mauna Loa erupted in November 2022 for the first time since 1984. Kīlauea has erupted repeatedly since 1983. Both are monitored 24 hours a day from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Quick Answers

Which state has the most volcanoes?
Alaska has the most volcanoes of any U.S. state with 130 potentially active volcanoes. California is 2nd with 19 and Oregon is 3rd with 17. All 13 states with potentially active volcanoes are in the western United States.
Does Hawaii have active volcanoes?
Yes. Hawaii has 5 historically active volcanoes: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, Mauna Kea, and the submarine Lōʻihi. Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are classified as currently active by the USGS. Mauna Loa last erupted in 2022 and Kīlauea has erupted repeatedly since 1983.
What states have volcanoes in the continental US?
11 states in the contiguous United States have potentially active volcanoes: California (19), Oregon (17), Washington (5), Idaho (5), New Mexico (4), Nevada (3), Wyoming (2), Utah (2), Arizona (2), Colorado (1), and Montana (1). All lie in the western United States.
Is Yellowstone a volcano?
Yes. Yellowstone in Wyoming is a supervolcano — a caldera system capable of eruptions far larger than typical volcanoes. It last erupted 640,000 years ago. The geysers and hot springs at Yellowstone are powered by the same magma system and are actively monitored by the USGS.
Which states have no volcanoes?
37 of 50 states have no potentially active volcanoes. All are east of the Rocky Mountains or outside the Pacific volcanic arc. States such as Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois have no volcanic activity in the geologic record of the Holocene epoch.
What was the last volcanic eruption in the contiguous US?
Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted most recently between 2004 and 2008, producing a new lava dome. Its 1980 eruption was the deadliest in U.S. history, killing 57 people and flattening 230 square miles of forest. Washington is ranked 4th with 5 potentially active Cascade volcanoes.

Methodology

Counts reflect potentially active volcanoes monitored by the USGS Volcano Hazards Program.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
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