Craters of the Moon in Idaho

We visited Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve as a small detour on our road trip to see Shoshone Falls near the city of Twin Falls in Idaho.

We had visited Craters of the Moon before, that that visit was a long time ago.

Craters of the Moon is best known for its volcanic landscape, which the National Park Servince website describes: "Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. We invite you to explore this 'weird and scenic landscape' where yesterday's volcanic events are likely to continue tomorrow."

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is jointly managed with the Bureau of Land Management and their website describes the park:

The Bureau of Land Management's Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a 750,000-acre geologic wonderland, managed jointly with the National Park Service's Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Its central feature is the Great Rift, a 52-mile long crack in the Earth's crust. The Great Rift is a remarkably preserved volcanic landscape. Exposed fissures, lava fields, lava tubes, craters and cinder cones form a strangely beautiful volcanic sea on central Idaho's Snake River Plain.

We visited in late May and unfortunately the caves and lava tubes were closed due to risky ice-related issues, but we were still able to see some interesting sights and we saw fewer than ten other people the entire time we were there.

Devil's Orchard Nature Trail

There is a large parking area for the Devil's Orchard Nature Trail.

The Devil's Orchard Nature Trail is a wheelchair accessible loop. The next photograph shows how some of the wildlife left their prints in the sidewalk as it was curing.

Trail is easy to navigate but features lots of interesting landscape.

Inferno Cone

Although the caves and lava tunnels were closed in late May, we were still able to go to three places listed on the "Places To Go" page, including climbing the Inferno Cone.

The Inferno Cone requires more hiking than it appears in the photograph above, but it's worth it for the 360 degree views. (Note no people going up or down when this photograph was taken in late May and contrast with this photograph on the National Park site.)

Spatter Cones

The Spatter Cones are very short walks from their parking area (note how empty that parking area was in late May).

As the National Park Service's Places to Go page states, these short walks allow visitors to "peer into the vents of these miniature volcanoes."

North Crater Trail

A trailhead for (end of) North Crater Trail is at the same parking area as the Spatter Cones.

Conclusion

Because all of the places described above are immediately accessible from the 7-mile Loop Road, it was easy to experience all of these sights and hikes in a couple hours. We would have liked to have experienced the caves as well, but it was too early in the season for that. Although we did not get to experience the caves, it was nice to experience Craters of the Moon in late May with pleasant (slightly cool) temperatures and very few other people.