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Description:
The park contains 25 volcanic cones, many of which are spatter cones. Also in the park are excellent examples of most types of basaltic lava, tree molds (cavities left by lava-incinerated trees), lava tubes (type of cave), and other volcanic features.
The features of this protected area are volcanic and represent one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas on the continent. It has an average elevation of 5,900 feet (1,800 m) above sea level.
The park encompasses a total area of 1,117 square miles (2,893 km2) which includes three major lava fields and large areas of sagebrush steppe grasslands.
All three lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho, where there are some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on Earth at 800 feet (240 m).
Three Lava Fields
The Craters of the Moon Lava Field (CMLF) has sixty distinct lava flows, consisting of mostly basaltic lava, covering 617 square miles and is the largest
Holocene Period lava field on the continent.
The Wapi Lava Field, just southeast of the CMLF, covers an area of 125 square miles and consists of of pahoehoe lava flows. The Wapi lava field is a low shield volcano formed less than 3000 years ago.
The Kings Bowl Lava Field just to the north, formed at about the same time as the Wapi Lava Field along a central fissure and produced a phreatic explosion creating the Kings Bowl, a 260 by 100 foot explosion crater.
Location:
Craters of the Moon is a national monument and preserve in the United State. It is located on US 26 in Idaho within the
Snake River Basin in south central Idaho.
Craters of the Moon Facts
Coordinates:
43.461000, -113.557000
Average Elevation:
5,900 feet (1,800 m)
Last Eruption:
2000 years ago
Volcano Type:
Rift
Nearest City:
Between Arco, Idaho and Carey, Idaho
Geographical Region
Ancient Steps:
Humans have inhabited the Snake River Plain for several thousand years, most of the first inhabitants arriving during the second crossing of the land bridge onto the north American continent. The families who settled in the Snake River basin were of the
Numic speaking family groups, the Shoshone of the Central Division families and the Bannock of the Western Division Families.
Members of the Shoshone and Bannock tribes both settled among the lava fields of modern day Craters of the Moon. These two groups both occupied the Snake River Plain, camped, traveled and hunted together, and otherwise coexisted even later as their languages slowly began to differ.
Beauty Cave
Boy Scout Cave
Dewdrop Cave
Indian Tunnel Cave
Pathway Journeys:
Footpath Journeys
Roadpath Journeys
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