Story by Rob Lundgren
Photos by Mary Ollie

At first glance, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve looks like something out of a Jules Verne novel. Mounds and mounds of hardened lava flows, stretching as far as the eye can see, make you think of an alien landscape millions of miles away from Earth. In fact, one early explorer of the area, geologist Harold Stearns, likened Craters of the Moon to “the surface of the moon as seen through a telescope.”

After all, astronauts of the Apollo 14 mission studied basic volcanic geology at the monument. But contrary to popular rumor they did not drive their moon buggies over the rocky surface.

It was President Calvin Coolidge who established Craters of the Moon as a national monument in 1924. In 2000 President Bill Clinton expanded the monument to its present size of 750,000 acres.

Despite its eerie landscape, Craters of the Moon is actually very down to earth. It is located 180 miles east of Boise, Idaho, on the northern edge of Idaho’s Snake River Plain.

Caving Destination

Although the geology of the area is certainly interesting, most of the 200,000 annual visitors come to Craters of the Moon for the caves.

Several caves are readily accessible to even the casual visitor and amateur spelunker. Actually they are not caves at all, but lava tubes—lava flows that hardened on the outside while lava still flowed within. Many lava tubes make up the Indian Tunnel Lava Tube system, stretching it to more than 800 feet in length. My wife and I checked out Indian Tunnel for ourselves and were rewarded with some welcome cool from the summer heat as well as glimpses of sparrows, bats, and pigeons, which inhabit the crevices of the cave. A stairway provides easy access to this large cave that measures some 30 feet high and 50 feet wide. Because of openings on both ends of the cave, a flashlight is not a necessity, but I found it handy to have as I scrambled over a rock pile or two near the cave’s exit.

Other caves in the monument include Dewdrop, Beauty, and Boy Scout. Boy Scout, the coldest of the group, never completely loses its ice, with temperatures inside the cave below 50 degrees even on the hottest summer days.

In all the caves except Indian Tunnel, you must carry flashlights and extra batteries. Of course sturdy shoes, not sandals or flip-flops, are also a necessity. Depending on the weather, the caves are accessible as early as mid-May. Starting in mid-June and running until mid-August, rangers lead daily cave walks, lasting approximately one and a half hours.

Wildflowers and Wildlife

After exploring the caves, don’t forget to enjoy the monument’s diverse wildflowers and wildlife.

The peak of the wildflower bloom usually occurs in mid-June and offers a “huge variety of flowers growing right out of the cinders,” says Stout. Some flower favorites include the magenta dwarf monkey flower, dwarf buckwheat, bitterroot, blazing star, and Idaho’s state flower, the syringa.

Over 56 different mammals have been seen in the monument. Among the most prevalent are chipmunks, muledeer, marmots, and pikas, called “rock rabbits” by early explorer Robert

Limbert, who first called attention to the area's unearthly beauty more than 80 years ago. There are even moose and black bear in the nearby Pioneer Mountains, which are located in the north side of the monument.

Hiking and More

Hiking trails are numerous inside the monument, with two, the trails at Devils Orchard and Spatter Cones, fully paved and wheelchair accessible. Ted Stout, chief of interpretation at the monument, suggests the Broken Top Loop Trail, a moderate 2-mile hike over cinders and young lava flows. “It’s real nice and offers a lot of variety,” he says. “You circumnavigate the broken top cinder cone (one of the monument’s extinct volcanoes), see limber pines, and explore the Buffalo Caves.”

If hiking or elementary caving isn’t your thing, you can still get a good idea of the park’s unique volcanic features by driving the paved 7-mile loop road that runs through the monument, with easily accessible turnouts for close-up viewing.

Craters of the Moon is open year-round with the loop road used for cross country skiing in the winter. May and June are usually delightful times to visit, with high temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 degrees and nighttime lows from 40 to 50 degrees with little rainfall.

Ranger Stout likes the monument’s “pristine quality.” Limbert, who first explored the area in 1920, would agree. He said, “It is the play of light at sunset that charms the spectator. It is a place of color and silence.”

Rob Lundgren is an English teacher in Caldwell, Idaho, and has written columns and articles for the Idaho Press-Tribune and Idaho Statesman newspapers. He currently lives in Meridian, Idaho, with his wife and two cats.

Northwest Travel Magazine May/June 2007