Craters of the Moon

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Whether you witnessed Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon live or read about it in history books, the words resonate with all of us as a historic event of man’s exploration to a new world. Although most of us will never get the opportunity to walk on the moon, there is a place in South Central Idaho that might just be the closest thing to it.

Craters of the Moon was proclaimed a National Monument in 1924 in an effort to preserve its unique and somewhat peculiar landscape. The area was formed from lava flow through a series of deep fissures known as the Great Rift. The red and black lava fields, craters and mounds mixed in by random sagebrush create a very unique scene more reminiscent to the surface of the moon (minus the foliage) than anything on this Earth.

A visit to the park is an easy half day adventure unless you’re doing more extensive hiking, which is available. Due to the heat, we kept our hikes short, doing the Devil’s Orchard Nature Trail and the Broken Top Loop Trail. We also stopped at all the viewpoints, and I did scale up to the top of Inferno Cone. Although this cone or lava hill is only 0.2 miles it is extremely steep and will get the heart pumping. The 360-degree view at the top is well worth the climb!

The highlight of the visit was exploring the caves. There are actually four caves but two of them were closed. That’s OK because what we saw was amazing. After a short boardwalk trail we first came to Dewdrop Cave. It’s easy to miss since it’s simply a dark hole in the ground. It requires some rugged rock scrambling to get down into the small dark cave. Very cool, both literally and figuratively.

A little further down the boardwalk is Indian Tunnel. This cave, or more technically a tunnel since it is open in spots is a bit easier to get into, but the rock scrambling begins once you’re in it. It’s a great adventure making your way through it and then climbing back out at the far end. The openings add another degree of beauty to the experience. At the right time of day, you can see the bats at the entrance of both caves.

TIP: The cave explorations require a permit to explore. What this means is simply stopping by the Visitors Center and answering a few questions to assure your not bringing anything into the cave that might infect the bat population. The actual permits are free.

We stayed in the infamous town of Arco Idaho, the first community in the world to ever be lit by electricity generated solely by nuclear power. Although the event only lasted an hour in the middle of a July night in 1955, the town proudly proclaims its place in history. We just happened to be there for the annual Atomic Days festival. There’s nothing like a small town festival and rodeo. It was a pleasant and unexpected added benefit to our trip.

Craters of the Moon is not a long stay destination, rather a very worthy stop along the way, and the charming town of Arco makes it even more welcoming. Be sure to checkout all of our pictures from Arco and the Craters of the Moon.