Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve

Fabulous place to visit if you're at all into geology or Earth science, or even if you just like hiking through weird & different areas! Miles and miles of inactive lava fields, cinders, splatter cones, lava tubes, craters, etc. Start at the visitors center, open 8 - 4:30. It is well staffed and has several films and good education displays plus excellent short ranger presentations. There is usually a daily ranger-led walk to a bat cave, but the entire cave area was closed when I visited. Allow 60 minutes in the visitors center. Now that you know the scientific background, you'll appreciate the excellent roads that wind among the many volcanic features, and the views they provide. Even if all you do is drive through the area, including all the loops and spurs, and stop to read the displays, you'll find it well done and fascinating. Allow about an hour just to drive it. But don't just drive it! There are miles of fairly easy trails plus a couple more strenuous hikes you can take right through the middle of these strange and beautiful volcanic remnants. Four hours is adequate to do the trails, not including the wilderness trail. A nicely laid out campground is also available, but no hookups for RVs.
8 years ago (22-09-2017)

This place is beautiful and you can climb through lava tubes for a hour or so. Its amazing when you come out of a small hole at the end and creepy walking over the tubes on the way back to the trail. Follow the markers. Check out the devils orchard and DO NOT LITTER. the signs throughout the orchard will tell you about the colorful past of the US park service here and how paradigms on conservation have changed over time to be the way they are today.
7 years ago (08-11-2017)

We had a great time. My kids earned their junior ranger badges and they are really unique lunar ranger badges. Thankfully a kind ranger went back into the office and got them for us since we pulled up at 4:33 and the visitors center closed at 4:30. So THANK YOU!
8 years ago (19-10-2017)

This place is incredible and has a lot of trails to hike and caves to explore. I would recommend stopping here if you are in the area. It is totally worth your time. They also have a great Visitors Center. You can camp at the park. It cost to get in whether you're walking biking or driving. If you have a national parks pass you can use it to get in to this Monument. Who knew Idaho had so much volcanic land!
8 years ago (11-10-2017)

If you are anywhere near here in your travels, it's worth a stop. It's a natural wonder that you would expect to see on the big island of Hawaii, not in Idaho (even though it makes sense since it's a volcanic area). My son had a blast! No pun intended. A leisurely exploration is about half a day, maybe more. It's bigger than you might expect.
8 years ago (31-08-2017)