Lava Flow Campground

• No reservations; all sites available on a first-come first-served basis.

Big Craters

A short, steep hike provides sweeping views of these impressive neighboring cinder cone craters.

• A steep-sided volcanic crater approximately 800 feet in diameter and 300 feet deep. The crater has black and reddish-brown stripes of color along its sides. A few small pine trees grow in the crater. A pile of large rocks and cinders has gathered at the center of the crater. The east side of the crater has an abrupt cliff face with visible layers. On the northwest side of this crater are two neighboring craters that share a rim. The second crater is approximately 600 feet in diameter and 75 feet deep. The third crater is approximately 350 feet in diameter and 100 feet deep. A hiking trail climbs the south side of the largest crater and follows along the western rims of the three craters.

Craters of the Moon Wilderness

The Craters of the Moon Wilderness encompasses over 43,000 acres of land within the park and is accessible only by trail for those seeking solitude.

• A wide-open volcanic landscape with large areas dominated by sagebrush steppe. More than 20 cinder cone volcanoes rise out of the landscape along a one-mile-wide band that is over 10 miles long, extending from a mountain range in the north beyond the southeast corner of the Wilderness area. There are some fissures in this area that run northwest to southeast. Most of the cinder cones are between 250 and 75 feet tall, with one measuring over 700 feet high and 1 mile in diameter. Some stands of pine trees are present, growing around the cinder cones and lava flows. The sagebrush steppe is broken up by swaths of black lava flows and cinder flats originating from the line of cinder cones and fissures. Both lava flows and cinder cones are in various stages of being covered by sagebrush and other plants, with some showing very little of the original rock and others almost completely uncovered by plants.

Craters of the Moon, the Oregon Trail

In 1862 an emigrant party asked guide Tim Goodale to lead them west from Fort Hall on the cutoff pioneered by Jeffrey. They hoped the alternate trail would enable them to reach the Salmon River gold fields more directly. Goodale succeeded in leading a group of 1,095 people, 338 wagons, and 2,900 head of stock safely from Fort Hall to Boise. In 1863, seven out of every ten wagons en route from Fort Hall to Boise took Goodale's Cutoff instead of the main Oregon Trail.

Devils Orchard Nature Trail

A short, wheelchair-accessible stroll through cinder beds and native vegetation.

• A parking area loops around a planter filled with native shrubs. The paved Devil’s Orchard trail begins and ends at the top of the parking area, winding out into the landscape and returning close to where it started. A sidewalk follows the entire edge of the parking area back toward the entrance, where there are two vault restrooms on one side and a picnic table on the other. The trail itself curves through a mostly-level area of cinders, irregularly-shaped volcanic rock, low sagebrush scrub, and small, windswept limber pines. A trailhead sign reads: “Two thousand years ago, nearby volcanoes erupted so violently that they tore themselves apart. Rivers of lava floated huge chunks of crater wall down to this spot. Time passed. Rocks crumbled. The seeds of rabbitbrush and limber pine took root in the sparse soil. A hundred years ago, a visiting minister declared this jumble of rocks, shrubs, and trees to be a garden fit for the devil himself. Welcome to Devil’s Orchard. ‘What you see depends mainly on what you look for.’ –Richard J. Vogl, biologist.”

Inferno Cone

A steep climb up the side of a cinder cone is rewarded with magnificent 360-degree views.

• A parking area and an overlook sit next to the park road. The overlook, on a small wooden platform, offers panoramic views of the Craters of the Moon landscape. Immediately on the right is Inferno Cone, a tall, barren black cone. A faint trail leads 164 feet up the steep side of the cone. The top of Inferno Cone offers 360-degree views of the park. A wayside exhibit on the viewing platform is divided into two small panels on either side of a very long panel with a panoramic photo of the view in front of us, with labelled landmarks. The left panel reads: “Round Knoll Kipuka. The same searing lava flows that destroyed everything in their path, today protect some of the last remaining islands of natural sagebrush steppe vegetation on the Snake River Plain. These features are called kipukas, a variation of the Hawaiian term puka that means hole. Kipukas show scientists what native plant communities looked like before grazing livestock and non-native plants changed them. They also provide important baseline data for monument staff in their work to protect and restore native vegetation.” The right panel reads: “Inferno Cone. Cinder Cones form when gas-rich volcanic froth erupts high into the air and then piles into a mound. Climb Inferno Cone, if you wish, but don’t be disappointed if you are unable to locate the source of the eruption at the top. These cinders were actually blown by the wind, and possibly squirted in this direction, from a vent far below near the Spatter Cones parking lot.”

Lava Trees

Just off the Wilderness Trail, see where lava surrounded living trees to leave behind impressions of trunks and branches in the rocks.

• A trail crossing a wide open, black, cinder flat surrounded with patches of grasses, sagebrush, and other shrubs. A large cinder cone approximately 700 feet high is west of the trail and has several large stands of pine trees and patches of sagebrush covering its slopes. A brown sign with the text "Lava Trees" points to a 150-foot-long spur trail heading toward the cinder cone. The spur trail ends at a group of black boulders that range in size from 1 foot high and 2 feet in diameter to 4.5 feet high and 4 feet in diameter. Each boulder has one or two cylindrical impressions of tree trunks in it. The impressions have the texture of burnt wood and are between 4 inches and 2 feet in diameter. Several impressions extend into the ground and create deep holes and some impressions also show branches. Most impressions are vertical, but some are horizontal or diagonal and most have a dark, smoke-like glaze.

NPS Preserve and BLM Monument

A network of primitive roads through the park service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) portions of the preserve offers backcountry driving opportunities and access for those with high-clearance, 4-wheel-drive vehicles.

• This vast, mostly flat area of Craters of the Moon includes seas of lava flows and sagebrush scrub vegetation.

North Crater Flow Trail

A short paved trail winds through a pahoehoe lava flow. This is an excellent introduction to the Craters of the Moon landscape.

• A long parking area on the side of the road. Facing away from the road, the North Crater Flow Trail leads from one end of the parking area, out in a loop through the landscape, and back to the other end of the parking area. In the center of our view is a field of lava rock, dotted with shrubs and small, irregular volcanic formations.To the left is a large, dark volcanic slope, dotted with limber pines. On the right is a smaller, crumbly-looking hill of volcanic rock. A third trail cuts up and over this steep slope in a series of rough steps, leading back toward the Lava Flow Campground. A trailhead sign reads: “Here in the path of the lava flow you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows that originated from the North Crater area. As you walk the path, imagine slow moving lava streaming around you as showers of cinders erupt high over the North Crater cinder cone—a scene that has been repeated many times here at Craters of the Moon. Please stay on the trail and leave everything as you find it.”

Spatter Cones

Peer into the vents of these miniature volcanoes, formed during the dwindling stages of eruption.

• A looped parking area about 200 feet from a string of spatter cones. Two adjacent trails lead to two separate cones. The narrow trail on the left approaches the larger cone, less than 50 feet tall, and winds steeply up the side. The trail ends inside the cone at a fenced-in viewpoint, where visitors can look down into the dark vent. At the second cone, on the paved, more level Snow Cone Trail, a railed platform overlooks another vent. This cone is shorter and more open than the first. A trailhead sign reads: “Spatter Cones. These miniature volcanoes formed when blobs of molten lava were lobbed into the air during the last gasp of an eruption sequence 2,100 years ago. This image shows a close up view of this material, known as spatter, erupting from an active spatter cone in Hawaii. Craters of the Moon is well known for these beautiful volcanic features. Please help protect them by staying on trails.”

Robert Limbert Visitor Center

• Robert Limbert Visitor Center
• When open, stop by the visitor center for maps and the Craters of the Moon Natural History Association bookstore, and of course: your passport stamp!

• Visit Craters in Winter
• Tour a lava wonderland blanketed in snow. Winter visitors can enjoy skiing the groomed park road or venture into the park on snowshoes.

• Hike Devils Orchard
• Enjoy an easy, 0.5 mile walk through an open limber pine woodland.

• Become a Craters Junior Ranger
• Earn your Junior Ranger badge for Craters of the Moon while learning about the park by completing this fun activity book.

• Visit the Spatter Cones
• Take a short walk to view some of the park's mini-volcanoes up close and personal.

• Explore a Cave
• Explore Craters' dynamic underground world of lava tubes.

• Stargazing at Craters of the Moon
• See the night sky like never before! The natural darkness of Craters of the Moon lends to superior stargazing opportunities.

• Hike the North Crater Trail
• This strenuous 3.5-mile trail drops into the mouth of North Crater.

• Hike Broken Top Loop
• Find a variety of unique volcanic features on this moderate-difficulty 1.8 mile loop.

• Backpack the Craters of the Moon Wilderness
• Immerse yourself in the solitude of the Craters of the Moon Wilderness.

• Hike Up Inferno Cone
• Climb a short but very steep trail to the top of a volcanic cone for awe-inspiring views.

• Hike the Tree Molds Trail
• This 2-mile trail winds through the Craters of the Moon Wilderness and features molds of ancient trees encased in lava.