Craters of the Moon National Monument — Attraction in Lost River

I was a bit on the fence coming here at first, but boy am I glad I did! This really is the most magical place I've ever been, and I can't wait to come back for my birthday! There is no service, and it's pretty remote, but it's hardly needed when there's so much to see. I spent nearly all day hiking and enjoying the sights, and the campground had just opened when I got there so I was basically all alone. I was there in March, so it was pretty dang cold, but shivering all night was definitely worth what the next day had to offer me. The full moon at night was enchanting over the bristlecone pines.

I'd give it five stars, but I'm docking a point simply because I'm salty about colonization and the lack of indigenous perspective regarding the area as it is sacred land forsaken by the white man. "We don't know what the Shoshone-Bannock people were doing out here" yeah, well, maybe did you guys think about asking us about the land you're on before you went and shoved us all onto reservations, erased our culture, and committed genocide? Of course you didn't, so enjoy...

Went to Craters of the Moon last month. It was really pretty cool. I went to the visitors center and read all the information available there. They had clean bathrooms too. Then I went and hiked the three of the trails that were open. A lot of the park was closed due to construction and winter weather. To be honest these three trails were plenty for me. Most of it all looks the same. This park looks a lot like the Lava Beds National Park too. Just more lava flows. Two of the trails I took were paved and had different informational signs explaining the different geological features. The think I liked the most was the elevated path for one of the trails nearest to the visitor center. They made the elevated trail so that people could see the area but not disturb the lava flows. The third trail I took was up the mountain near to the visitors center. It was a steeper hike and had some snow still in the shaded areas. It had some great views...

Cool place. Do the caves for free as long as u haven't been caving before. Don't bring that white nose fungus to these bats😁. $20 for car load entry into park. I think 80.00 if u want year pass to go to any National Park. Hint tho, if you want to climb that one mountain of ash, don't remember the name you will see it. Do not run-jog to the top as you probably will be fooled as I was as to where the top actually is. 😮. When I topped the make believe Crest, I found I was maybe halfway. I wondered at this point would an ambulance be able to drive to me.😫. I told daughter I'm done see you at the bottom. But after a couple minutes of catching my breath, I wanted to see what's on top. I'm glad I did. Beautiful and I love the leaning...