I had heard of Craters of the Moon numerous times since we’d been on the road. It was also listed as one of the top national monuments, along with White Sands, to visit. I realized as we were passing through Idaho that this amazing monument was in this state!! I knew we had to go, so I made it happen!

We stayed at a Boondockers Welcome spot known as Honey’s Park Free Dry Camping. Scar was an amazing host and we ended up meeting another amazing full-time family. We ended up staying longer and delaying our visit to Craters just so we could hang out together. The dads took the kids climbing a the local crag one day, and the moms hung out for the afternoon.

The next day we ventured over to Craters of the Moon. It was a very alien landscape unlike anything I’ve ever seen before! The Monument and Preserve encompass three major lava fields. The Monument alone covers 53,571 acres. All three lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho, with some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on Earth at 800 feet . There are excellent examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava, as well as tree molds (cavities left by lava-incinerated trees), lava tubes (a type of cave), and many other volcanic features. It was very surreal!!

We enjoying caving in some of the lava tubes. Some were really small spaces and we were the only ones down there. We came prepared with helmets and headlamps as recommended 🙂 Such an AWESOME place!!!

Our day at this place was amazing. Such a very cool experience!! Until next time…..Craters of the Moon!