Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve — Attraction in Butte City

I took my family camping to Craters of the Moon on our way to Yellowstone, from Boise. The year we went there were lots of forest fires and of course, smoke. We arrived on site at approximately 1830 hours. We quickly found a campsite and set up the rooftop tent. The lighting was surreal. The sun was read as could be thanks in part to the thick blanket of smoke. One of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen.

We ate dinner and walked up to the interpretive centre (amphitheatre) for the late evening discourse provided by the passionate rangers working the National Monument.

The information session was fantastic and very entertaining. We left and bunked down for the night, adults replete with knowledge and kids with their Junior Ranger kits and badges.

The site was absolutely fantastic! It was very, very clean. The restrooms and showers were well maintained. Fortunately, we found no garbage and everyone camping that night was respectful of others, remaining quiet and keeping their campsites clean.

That evening we were treated to a couple of nice shows. One by the Sage grouse that inhabit the relatively arid area (getting their name from the sage they hide in) and the massive amount of bats keeping the area bug free. Seriously, when I arrive at a campsite, mosquitoes see me as the "Vegas" of the wild. They all want a piece of me all night. This evening and night, not one single bite. My daughter is deathly afraid of moths and the restrooms and showers were completely devoid of all bugs.

The next morning, we awoke to the rustling and 'singing' done by the sage grouse and other high-flying birds of prey. We ate breakfast and broke camp. Showered and read the map of the area, deciding to drive through it and hopefully, if it wasn't too hot later, stopping and even hiking the tunnels (hollowed-out lava flows).

As we drove, we saw a dire landscape full of beauty and intricate shapes made by the lava. There were spires jutting out 30, 50, 70 feet toward the sky, deep bowls, and a couple of high lava domes.

The road is well labelled and if you know how to read a map, you can easily follow it and the road to find your way.

The highlights of the trip within though were the highest lava dome and the tunnels. These are all massive. The photos really don't do them justice. One feels as small as an ant hiking through them. When we went, we didn't need permits to enter them so we hiked for about 20 minutes before even making it to the first tunnel.

I have to tell you that you a) should be fit, b) carry lots of water, c)wear clothing appropriate to the weather and carry a sweater with you like the temperature in the tunnels is easily 20 degrees colder than the sun-beaten asphalt trail and surrounding black lava rock.

Additionally, if you are diabetic and are prone to hypoglycemia through exercise, carry some sugary snacks with you. Other than the climb to the top of the lava dome or the climbs out of the tunnels, the travel is relatively flat and easy but unprepared hikers might find the hike up the lava dome strenuous and the climbs into and out of the caves, challenging.

Once you are there...the jaw drops...and drops...and drops. Especially for those who have never seen anything of the sort. There is so much beauty in the start interiors! So many interesting formations and history is excellent to investigate.

All in all, this is one of the best places I've ever been to. We've since sold our SUV and rooftop tent but I am aching to return. I definitely recommend this National Landmark.

Thank you US National Park Service. We really enjoyed our stay. The bonus is the kids really loved it and participating in the Junior Ranger...

What a crazy place to visit.  The rangers love to tout that it is the only national recreation area protected because it is “weird”.  Strangely enough these were my exact words when we arrived.  What a weird place!!  We stayed at the campground inside the monument, so we had easy access to everything it has to offer.  We were able to do most of the attractions in the two days we stayed.

After finding our camping spot, we scoped out the visitor center and found out a ranger-led tour was about to start at the one of the caves.  We love going on tours because you get to learn so much more about the history, the “why” and you get to ask questions.  We quickly got our cave permit (which is free) and headed out.  The walk to the cave was completely unreal.  Large “snake-like” bulbous rock formations littered the landscape.  We learned that the area is an active volcano to this day.  It erupts roughly every 2,000 years.  The last eruption was over 2,000 years ago so she is overdue!  The previous eruptions caused dramatic lava flows which created the landscape we see today.  There are over 500 caves in the monument, but only a few open to visitors.  The tour we did visited Indian Tunnel.  Many of the caves in the monument are lava tube caves which is how Indian Tunnel was formed.  After a small climb into the cave opening, we traversed the large lava rock field to pop out of the tunnel on the other side.

In addition to the caves, there are many hikes that allow you to see the features of the monument.  What took us by surprise was the monument (at first) seemed so desolate and eerie, but in the middle of all the dark, lifeless rock there were wildflowers!  Beautiful purple and gold dotted the landscape.  Against the dark rock the flowers popped breaking up the rough and ruggedness.  Truly beautiful contrasts.

Throughout the monument, lava rocks were scattered.  Many were by our campsite and they like to stick in the bottom of shoes and the dogs paws!  They are very porous rock.  In fact, if you pour water on them it soaks up instantly and within seconds you would not be able to tell you had poured the water in the first place.  They also had a metallic quality that changed colors depending on the rock shape and the glow from the sun.  This porous rock is important to Idaho’s most famous crop, potatoes!  Water that seeps through the lava rocks eventual flows to hydrate local potato crops.  It takes an astonishing 200-year journey for the water to reach its destination and probably not too long after that it is on your dinner table!

The monument has several ranger-led hikes and programs.  At night, one of the rangers presented a talk about the moon and its ties to the monument.  What a fascinating presentation and the ranger did an excellent job entertaining the crowd.  As you may have guessed the monument gets its name from the craters on its surface which are similar to the moon’s.  The moon’s craters were/are formed by meteors striking the surface while the craters at the monument were/are formed from the volcanic activity.  Even though they are formed differently, the similar characteristics gave early explorers the idea behind the monument’s name.

Overall, this monument was a surprise for us.  We enjoyed the dramatic landscape and the history behind it.  It was also not crowded at all!  We would recommend getting the times and locations for the ranger-led tours and presentations at the visitor center because you do not want to miss those.  It was a great stop and we would...

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a U.S. National Monument and national preserve in the Snake River Plain in central Idaho. It is along US 20 (concurrent with US 93 and US 26), between the small towns of Arco and Carey, at an average elevation of 5,900 feet (1,800 m) above sea level. The protected area's features are volcanic and represent one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas in the continental United States.

The Monument was established on May 2, 1924. In November 2000, a presidential proclamation by President Clinton greatly expanded the Monument area. The National Park Service portions of the expanded Monument were designated as Craters of the Moon National Preserve in August 2002. It lies in parts of Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Power counties. The area is managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The Monument and Preserve encompass three major lava fields and about 400 square miles (1,000 km2) of sagebrush steppe grasslands to cover a total area of 1,117 square miles (2,893 km2). The Monument alone covers 53,571 acres (21,679 ha). All three lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho, with some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on Earth at 800 feet (240 m). There are excellent examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava, as well as tree molds (cavities left by lava-incinerated trees), lava tubes (a type of cave), and many other...