Blogs from Craters Of The Moon National Monument, Idaho, United States, North America

Today, I pushed out of Wyoming and into Idaho. The first obstacle is Teton Pass. A high mountain pass across the southern end of the Teton Range, it is the only way to cross the mountains by road. It drove like a miniature version of the Big Horn Mountains, a steep climb with lots of views followed by an equally steep drop. The other side held a wide farming valley, noted mostly for its view of the backside of the Teton Range. The peaks are much less dramatic on this end, although Grand Teton is clearly visible. From here, the road weaved through river valleys, more hills, and farms filled with yellow alfalfa plants rippling in the breeze. Eventually, it reached an overlook of a wide valley with mountains shimmering in the heat miles away. I ... read more

Entry 30: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho Saturday, August 28 - Sunday, August 29, 2010 From Surreal Drive to Just Surreal… After waking up in a Umatilla National Forest in Eastern Oregon and driving 300-400 miles, Sophie the dog and I were again tired and cranky. However, at around 4 p.m., we had finally traveled far enough off the beaten path, and were rewarded with my (umm…and Sophie’s, too) first visit to the Craters of the Moon National Monument, its landscape of dark black, brown and red volcanic dominate the landscape. Established in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge referred to the area as a “weird and scenic landscape, particular to itself.” Small in size, the approx. 60 mile long and 20-30 mile area is certainly an area particular to itself. Approximately 15,000 years ago, ... read more

We’ve seen many of the “badland” areas of the western US, but what we found in central Idaho is like nothing we have ever seen. The Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve near Arco, ID contains over 1,100 square miles of protected area, mostly lava fields resulting from volcanic activity from as far back as 15,000 years age and as recent as 2,000 years ago. The resulting effect is black rocky “moonscape” for as far as the eye can see. (Actually, scientists say it more closely resembles Mars.) There is one paved loop in the northwestern corner of the preserve, the rest of the preserve being inaccessible by auto. There is a campground on the loop and several paved footpaths leading to various caves and unusual rock formations. We went to the Preserve with ... read more

We left California and started the long journey east. We were planning to go to Yellowstone, so decided on a route that took us through Oregon and Idaho so we could see a couple more national parks that had caught our interest, namely Crater Lake in Oregon and Craters of the Moon in Idaho. The pictures of Crater Lake that we had seen were absolutely stunning, a fantastic deep blue lake surrounded by the steep walls of a massive crater. The weather was not fantastic when we left California, so we were hoping it would clear up so we could see the lake at its best... it didn't quite work out how we hoped, initially anyway! Crater Lake is actually on top of an old volcano, whose top had been blown off in a massive explosion ... read more