Craters of the Moon National Monument ⓘ

Craters of the Moon contains numerous cultural as well as natural resources. A number of archeological sites have been found at the park. Goodale’s Cutoff , a section of the Oregon Trail that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , passes through the northern section of the monument. The historic structures at Craters of the Moon date from the two main periods of national park development—the rustic era and the Mission 66 era. Congress began appropriating money for park infrastructure, such as roads and buildings, in the mid-1920s, and funding increased during the New Deal during the 1930s. The park's log comfort station and log warehouse date from this era, and these structures are the only existing rustic-style buildings constructed by the National Park Service in Idaho. The second major period of park development began in 1955, when Congress allotted $700,000,000 for the Mission 66 program. The five housing units, the visitor center, the utility building and the brick comfort station in the campground were built during this time. The buildings are an early example of Mission 66 development, and are the only representations of park service modern architecture in Idaho. In 2022, the Craters of the Moon Mission 66 National Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

"It was a desolate, dismal scenery. Up or down the valley as far as the eye could reach or across the mountains and into the dim distance the same unvarying mass of black rock. Not a shrub, bird nor insect seemed to live near it. Great must have been the relief of the volcano, powerful the emetic, that poured such a mass of black vomit."

On a ranch not far from the park, a small mound of rocks sits in the middle of a pasture. The loose stones look like they were piled up to make it easier for tractors to pass. But long-time residents of the ranch say the rocks mark the site of a 100 year old grave.

In the mid-1800s, tragedy struck a wagon train crossing the Snake River Plain. A rattlesnake bit a young girl who was walking behind one of the wagons. Two days later the girl died. Her parents had no choice but to bury her along the trail. Someone scratched the name "Nellie" onto a child's slate, possibly her own, and placed it on the grave as a headstone.

From the 1840s through the 1860s, tens of thousands of emigrants passed through southern Idaho on their way to fertile farmland to the west or to the gold fields north of Boise. The traffic peaked in 1864 when 40,000 people traveled the Oregon Trail. They endured extreme hardship; and some -- like the little girl -- never made it.

The Oregon Trail followed the course of the Snake River, about 100 miles south of the monument. In 1852, John Jeffrey began promoting a spur trail which traced traditional Shoshoni migration routes. He wanted to generate business for his ferry at the mouth of the Blackfoot River. Although the cutoff received some use from 1852-1854, it was not until a decade later that a large percentage of Oregon Trail traffic chose the route.

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. It took this enormous wagon train -- the largest to travel any section of the Oregon Trail -- over 3 hours to get into or out of camp.

By 1862, the Northern Shoshone and Bannock tribes were beginning to resist the intrusion of emigrants into their homeland. Skirmishes occurred between the Shoshone and emigrants near Massacre Rocks State Park . The growing hostility along the trail resulted in increased demand for a safe alternative. 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.

The 230-mile spur headed north from Fort Hall toward Big Southern Butte, a conspicuous landmark on the Snake River Plain. From there it passed near the present-day town of Arco, wound through the northern part of Craters of the Moon National Monument, went southwest to Camas Prairie, and ended at Fort Boise. This journey typically took two to three weeks.

Goodale's Cutoff took its toll on the travelers and their wagons. The rugged lava restricted travel to one lane, so progress was slow.

The path along the edge of the lava flows was circuitous. The emigrants typically passed through in late July, the hottest part of the summer. Wood dried out in the desert air and shrank, causing wheels and boxes to come apart. Pioneers wrote of finding pieces of broken wagons littering the trail.

For nearly 50 years, westward-bound pioneers used Goodale's Cutoff. Later, miners moving ore to railroad depots and stagecoaches carrying passengers to the towns of southern Idaho took the route. But the advent of the railroad and automobile led to the demise of Goodale'sCutoff as a wagon route. Today those driving US-20, which follows sections of the route, need not concern themselves with survival and can take time to appreciate the unique beauty of the harsh landscape.

Goodale's Cutoff is visible at many points along Highway, 20/26/93 between Arco and Carey. The route winds through the northern end of the park out of sight of the road and intersects the highway 3.5 miles west of the visitor center. From that point on, watch for the dirt road as it follows the edge of the lava flows north of the highway. The cutoff is particularly easy to pick out 5.7 miles west of the visitor center, where the road drops down a steep incline. Look to the slope north of the road, where several earlier routes through this notch are visible. The highest road is Goodale's Cutoff. At Lava Lake, 11.3 miles west of the visitor center, there is a historical marker which describes Goodale's Cutoff. Goodale's Cutoff is not accessible by car within the developed portion of the park.

For more than 50 years, Craters of the Moon has served as a NASA space exploration research site and an astronaut training site. On August 22, 1969, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, Joe Engle, and Eugene Cernan landed at the airport in Arco. They then proceeded to Craters of the Moon where they explored the lava landscape and learned the basics of volcanic geology in preparation for future trips to the moon. The astronauts came to Craters of the Moon because they were pilots and not geologists. NASA felt that these were men who might someday be walking on the moon. They would also have the rare opportunity to collect samples of different rocks on the moon. Since only a limited amount of material (850 pounds total in six moon landings) could be brought back, it was important that they know enough geology to pick up the most scientifically valuable specimens. Since much of the moon's surface is covered by volcanic materials, it was very important that they know something about the lava they would encounter. This was the reason that the astronauts visited such places as Hawai'i, Iceland, and Craters of the Moon. Visiting these places allowed the astronauts to become educated observers who could describe the surface features they were exploring to geologists back on Earth. In 1999, Cernan, Engle, and Mitchell returned to Craters of the Moon to help celebrate the Monument's 75th Anniversary, 30 years after training here. They spoke about how beneficial their training here had been and how knowing about what was "in their own backyard" prepared them so well for their missions to the moon.

Alan Shepard was a naval aviator, a test pilot, and a flight instructor. Named as one of the nation's original seven Mercury astronauts in 1959, Shepard became the first American and second person in space on May 5, 1961. He was Chief of the Astronaut Office from November 1963 to August 1969. He was mission commander of the Apollo 14 crew and is one of only 12 Americans to step on the moon. During his moon walk, he hit two golf balls with a specially designed golf club that could be folded into his spacesuit. He passed away on July 21, 1998.

Edgar Mitchell was a Navy pilot and a Research Project Pilot. He was selected by NASA for astronaut training in April 1966. He had one spaceflight, aboard the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission as the lunar module pilot, and served as support and backup crew on several other missions. Mitchell's first assignments at NASA were as support crew for Apollo 9, the second manned Apollo flight, and as the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 10. His sole spaceflight was as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 14, the third lunar landing mission launched January 31, 1971. During this mission he became the 6th astronaut to walk on the Moon. He passed away on February 4, 2016.

Eugene Cernan journeyed into space on three missions. He first flew on Gemini 9 where he distinguished himself as one of the first Americans to walk in space. He was on the three-man crew of Apollo 10 which flew around the moon and he piloted their lunar landing module over the moon's surface to scout a landing spot for Apollo 11. He served as the backup commander for Apollo 14. Cernan then commanded Apollo 17, setting down his lunar landing module on the moon. He was on the moon longer than any other American who has walked on the moon. He was also the last astronaut to walk on the moon. He passed away on January 16, 2017.

Joe Engle was a jet pilot, test pilot for the X-15, and astronaut. He served as the backup command module pilot for Apollo 14. He trained for Apollo 17 as the lunar module pilot, but was replaced on the crew in the final months of training to provide the opportunity for NASA to place a scientist on the moon in its final Apollo mission. Engle went on to pioneer the US Space Shuttle program and served as commander of the second and 20th space shuttle flights.

Birds are some of the most noticeable animals at Craters of the Moon. To date, 223 species have been sighted on or over the monument and preserve! Birds at the park include year-round residents, those migrating south, species that stop here only a few days each year, and some arctic and alpine birds that stay for the winter. Many residents are rocky area or shrubland specialists seen in large numbers in only a few other places in the country.

Birdwatching is a fun activity for people of all ages and experience levels, and Craters has a unique collection of both residents and migrant species to look for!

Even in the heat of a summer afternoon or the bitter cold of a January morning, birds can be found at Craters. Ravens, Clark's nutcrackers , and chickadees live here all year. Birds such as Brewer’s sparrow , sage thrasher, and sage grouse , are found in much higher numbers than in similar areas with more human activity. Limber pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, and Utah juniper stands growing in cinder gardens and kipuka areas offer habitat to woodpeckers, flycatchers, chickadees, nuthatches, warblers, sparrows, and finches. Even the seemingly barren lava flows provide shelter for mountain bluebirds , violet-green swallows, and rock wrens.

Cinder gardens and kipuka areas the midst of a vast sea of shrublands and barren lava flows are a beacon to many migrating birds, such as warblers, sparrows, and flycatchers, which reside here for brief periods in the spring and fall. During the long, cold winters that are characterized by blowing snow and temperatures well below freezing, birds are still found at Craters of the Moon. Mountain and arctic birds that stay for the winter include black and gray crowned rosy-finches, rough-legged hawks, northern shrikes, snow buntings, and in some years even snowy owls or gyrfalcons.

Since water is a scarce resource in the high desert, birds are found in abundance where it does occur. Many small ponds and lakes formed by spring rains and snow melt provide temporary homes for a surprising number of waterbirds, such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, herons, and gulls. Even swans are sighted regularly during the spring migration north to Canada. A few small riparian areas and aspen clumps provide shelter for warblers, vireos, catbirds, orioles, woodpeckers, and more. Small marshes on the northern edge of the lava flow attract blackbirds, wrens, and herons.

A commonly-seen member of the jay family that collects and stores thousands of pine seeds each year.

Although the stark appearance of Craters of the Moon may initially create an impression of lifelessness, many animals make their homes here. Birds and some rodents are seen most frequently. The changing weather and seasons play a large role in determining which animals are active at any given time.

Arid land animals have a variety of adaptations for dealing with the temperature and moisture stresses present at Craters of the Moon. Most desert animals are nocturnal, or mainly active at night. Nocturnal behavior is an adaptation to both predation and hot summer daytime temperatures. Nocturnal animals at Craters of the Moon include woodrats (also called packrats), skunks, foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, bats, nighthawks, owls, and most other small desert rodents. Animals that are most active at dawn and dusk, when temperatures are cooler than mid-day, are called crepuscular. The subdued morning and evening light helps make them less visible to predators, but is bright enough to allow them to locate food. Some animals are crepuscular mainly because their prey is also. Crepuscular animals include mule deer, coyotes, porcupines, mountain cottontails, jackrabbits, and many songbirds. Some desert animals are diurnal, or primarily active during the day. These include ground squirrels, marmots, chipmunks, lizards, snakes, hawks, and eagles.

Many animals have a specific temperature range in which they are able to be active, and so their active times of day vary with the seasons. Snakes and lizards hibernate during the winter months, are diurnal during the late spring and early fall, and become crepuscular during the heat of summer. Many insects and some birds also alter their times of activity. Some animals, like ground squirrels and marmots, have one or more periods of estivation, a summer hibernation that allows them to avoid the hottest and driest periods.

Since there are few sources of water at Craters of the Moon, animals must get the moisture they need directly from their food. Mule deer munch bitterbrush leaves. Violet-green swallows snatch insects from the air. Rattlesnakes swallow rodents whole. Each of these foods contains water essential to life. A few rodents such as pocket mice and kangaroo rats do this so efficiently that they go their entire lives without drinking water.

Some animals are unique to Craters of the Moon and the surrounding area. Subspecies of Great Basin pocket mouse and yellow pine chipmunk are found nowhere else in the world. A unique population of pikas makes its home among the lava flows. Lava tube beetles and many other cave animals are found only in the lava tubes of eastern Idaho.

Although Craters of the Moon may appear lifeless and unchanging, the high desert ecosystem is continually changing. Weather, climatic shifts, fire and geologic processes, including volcanic eruptions , will continue to shape the landscape as they have for thousands of years. Settlement of the Snake River Plain brought about rapid environmental change, and as a result native animals such as bighorn sheep, bison, and the grizzly bear have disappeared from the area. More recently, human-caused factors such as air pollutants and invasive introduced species, have had an increasing impact on natural resources within the remote lava fields of the Great Rift. Clean, dry air traditionally afforded clear views of Great Rift landforms and the high mountain ranges surrounding the Snake River Plain and spectacular night skies. Emissions of air pollutants from distant sources are now being carried to the Snake River Plain and are beginning to obscure these views. Invasive, non-native plants and diseases have been introduced into North America from other continents. Lacking their normal complement of predators and disease, these plants and pathogens have spread widely across the Intermountain West, displacing native plants and reducing food for wildlife. The remote and undeveloped landscape of the Great Rift still provides an ideal place to study how various environmental factors affect desert ecosystems, and to help people predict what changes might take place in the future.

Rocks from relatively recent volcanic eruptions dominate the landscape of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Plants and animals began occupying the area while the once molten lava fields were still cooling. Some, like the big horned sheep and grizzly bear have been gone for almost 100 years. Most continue to thrive here. Windblown soils provide an important habitat for the plant communities that thrive here including the widespread sagebrush steppe plant community. Difficult access due to rugged terrain and a lack of water discouraged people from altering the landscape with the roads, buildings, farms, and powerlines which occupy much of the present day Snake River Plain. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve encompasses the entire Great Rift volcanic rift zone. It contains a huge concentration of volcanic landforms and structures along the more than 50-mile zone of fractures and eruptions. A composite field made up of about 60 lava flows and 25 cones, the Craters of the Moon Lava Field is the largest of its type in the lower 48 states. It is also the largest and most complex of the late Pleistocene and Holocene basaltic lava fields of the Eastern Snake River Plain. It has nearly every type of feature associated with basaltic systems, and roads or trails offer convenient access to examples of most of them. The Craters of the Moon Lava Field is the northernmost of the three lava fields found along the Great Rift, a system of crustal fractures that begins at the base of the Pioneer Mountains north of the Monument and extends for more than 50 miles to the southeast. The flows of the Craters of the Moon Lava Field have parent magma similar to that in the rest of the Snake River Plain, but exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions due to crustal contamination and crystal fractionation. The Wapi Lava Field is the southernmost of these three fields. The Craters of the Moon Lava Field formed from magma that pushed up along the Great Rift. The magma that formed the Kings Bowl and Wapi Lava Fields also came up along the Great Rift, but originated in a different magma chamber. The Great Rift and other volcanic rifts on the Eastern Snake River Plain are predominantly parallel to, but not all are collinear with, basin and range faults north and south of the plain. The Craters of the Moon Lava Field was formed during eight major eruptive periods over the past 15,000 years. In contrast, most of the other lava fields on the Eastern Snake River Plain (including Kings Bowl and Wapi) represent single eruptions. Unique natural features at Craters of the Moon include lava tubes caves such as Indian Tunnel, which is passable for 800 feet; Big Cinder Butte, at 700 feet, one of the largest purely basaltic cinder cones in the world; and the Blue Dragon flow, which is named for its striking blue color. Tree Molds preserve evidence of lava overcoming living trees.The monument also contains large areas of sagebrush steppe as well as numerous kipukas. Kipukas are isolated islands of remnant vegetation protected by surrounding lava flows that act as small, virtually undisturbed havens for native plants and animals. Hundreds of small kipukas are scattered throughout the Craters of the Moon and Wapi lava fields.

The Great Rift Zone A link to Idaho's Digital Atlas, Idaho's Natural History Online

The Lava Flow Campground offers visitors the unique experience of camping within one of the youngest lava flows in the park. NPS Photo / Jacob W. Frank

Lava Flow Campground As unique as its name, campsites are surrounded by a young lava flow. The campground is located near the visitor center and popular trails. Availability The road and campground closures are weather dependent. Please check the Current Conditions page for updates. The Lava Flow campground generally closes for vehicle access when the Loop Road closes in November. It reopens to vehicles in April or May when the Loop Road opens. Visitors may hike into the Lava Flow Campground from the visitor center and snow camp during the winter months. A free permit from the visitor center is required to snow camp. Facilities Water and flush toilets are seasonally available. Vault toilets located near the entrance station are open year-round. Each site has a charcoal grill and picnic table. Regulations To claim a campsite, please leave an item in your desired campsite and register for your site at the automated fee machine as soon as possible. Place receipt in box on campsite post. Pay with a credit card (no cash or checks are accepted). No wood fires are permitted. Charcoal fires are permitted in the grills. Campsites are limited to a maximum of 8 people, 2 tents, and 2 vehicles (unless otherwise posted). All vehicles must always remain on paved roads. Camping is not allowed at the visitor center or at any parking areas along the Loop Road. Walk-in snow camping is seasonally permitted at the campground as well as at the Devils Orchard and Tree Molds parking lots.

Backcountry camping is available with a permit for the adventurous hiker. NPS Photo Snow Camping During the winter months , walk-in snow camping is permitted in the Lava Flow Campground, Devils Orchard parking area, and Tree Molds parking area. A free permit is required from the visitor center to ensure visitor safety and monitor usage statistics.

Car or RV camping is not permitted at the visitor center. Wilderness and Backcountry Camping Camping is also permitted in the Craters of the Moon Wilderness and the NPS Preserve and BLM Monument for those who are properly outfitted. Those interested must obtain a free backcountry permit from the visitor center. Additional Camping Near Craters Many more campgrounds and RV parks are located on the way to or from Craters. Learn more about camping near Craters of the Moon .

There are many options for camping on public lands in southern Idaho including: Sawtooth National Forest Salmon-Challis National Forest Caribou-Targhee National Forest

During the winter months , walk-in snow camping is permitted in the Lava Flow Campground, Devils Orchard parking area, and Tree Molds parking area. A free permit is required from the visitor center to ensure visitor safety and monitor usage statistics. The spur road out to Tree Molds is not groomed. All snow camping locations have vault toilets available year-round, but snow drifts may prevent access. Bring a shovel with you when snow camping. Please remember to leave no trace and pack out all waste with you. Car or RV camping is not permitted at the visitor center.

Many more campgrounds and RV parks are located on the way to or from Craters. Learn more about camping near Craters of the Moon . Dispersed camping is not permitted at the visitor center or along the Loop Road. Several free campgrounds managed by the Bureau of Land Management are available west of the park. The nearest are Silver Creek and Fish Creek Reservoir . There are many options for camping on public lands in southern Idaho including:

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve 1266 Craters Loop Road P.O. Box 29 Arco, ID 83213