Craters of the Moon was established as a national monument in 1924 to preserve what was then described as "a weird and scenic landscape, peculiar to itself". It included 750,000 acres of lava features, some created 15,000 years ago (most recent eruption likely about 2000 years ago) as lava well up from the Great Rift to produce this vast ocean of rock. In 2000 the Great Rift, a 52 mile long fissure adjacent to the lava field, was added to the national monument site.
Located along US hwy 20 in Idaho, it's hard to miss the black, unearthly like rock. The park has a visitor center with excellent displays and films as introduction to the lava features. An on-site campground is available for those who like to take time exploring the trails. A 7 mile loop road allows one to drive to designated features or trail-heads. Many trails are wheelchair accessible.
We learned that the lava fields even provided a training ground for moon bound astronauts in 1969. Here they learned basic volcanic geology and could practice walking among the cinders and lava flows.
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