Crater of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a premier destination in Idaho. Learn more about Craters of the Moon Idaho.
The Skinny
- What: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, 1266 Craters Loop Road, P.O. Box 29, Arco, ID 83213. Telephone 208-527-1300. Admission is $15 per motorcycle. Low-cost campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
- How To Get There: From the west, it’s I-84 east, U.S. Hwy 20 east, and left on U.S. Hwy 26. From the south, it’s I-15 north to U.S. Highway 20 west. From the east, it’s I-80 west, I-15 north and U.S. Hwy 20 west.
- Best Kept Secret: Astronauts train here. When you see the terrain, you’ll understand.
Craters of the Moon Idaho: National Monument & Preserve
I visited Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve eight years ago while leading a group of Chinese tourists on a 5,000-mile ride across the American West. Our stop was necessarily brief due to a tight schedule. We pulled into the Craters entrance, grabbed a few photos and continued our trek west (I always regretted this as I wanted to see more). I returned to Craters of the Moon for this article and an in-depth exploration.
A great destination is made even more so if the ride there is memorable, and this one certainly was. Our journey originated in Boise, about 170 miles to the west. The ride from Boise to Craters takes you southeast on Interstate Highway 84, then east on U.S. Highway 20 (Highway 20 runs across the entire United States, from Newport, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts). In 2019, Idaho Governor Brad Little designated the portion of Highway 20 we traveled as the Medal of Honor Highway. It is a scenic and meticulously maintained two-lane road, perfect for motorcycle touring. After Highway 20, it’s left onto U.S. Highway 26 to Craters of the Moon. Highway 26 offers more splendid and scenic country riding, featuring rolling grasslands, ranching and the towns of Carey and Picabo. Ernest Hemingway famously hunted waterfowl and more in this part of the world.
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve has the largest lava complex of the eastern Snake River plain, consisting of 25 lava cones and 60 lava flows. The National Park Service describes the landscape as “weird and scenic,” and that’s certainly an apt description. I’m not the only one who feels that way; NASA has used Craters of the Moon Idaho as an astronaut training area for more than 50 years. The terrain is lunar-like and otherworldly, consisting of dark brown lava punctuated by patches of green vegetation. It all makes for a dramatic landscape and awesome photo opportunities. The National Park Service has done a great job making the area accessible and providing explanations telling its story. You can ride through Craters on a one-way paved loop, with multiple turnouts at selected points of interest. One of the first such stops is a large pahoehoe lava field (pahoehoe is lava characterized by dark and roughened surfaces). It has an elevated walkway above the lava (you can walk a quarter-mile loop and see the hardened lava up close). The walkway is a good thing; navigating this terrain on foot would be both slow and dangerous.
Craters of the Moon Idaho has several lava tubes (caves formed by lava flows), and if you wish, you can hike into them (there are also designated longer hikes throughout the Preserve). Cinder cone is another lava type, and sometime during lava field formation, these broke apart and left dramatic monolithic structures. One of Craters of the Moon’s more dramatic areas is the Inferno Cone. You can park nearby and climb to the peak. How long you stay and how much you see at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is up to you. We were there for about three hours and we enjoyed a great visit.
