We live in Utah so we have explored Idaho quite a few times. But we usually go the same places or love finding new hot springs. This past weekend we went to Blackfoot for my brother’s wedding open house. We had some extra time & decided to make it the trip where we went to Craters of the Moon! We had been wanting to go & I am so glad we did!
Craters of the Moon is about an hour and a half from Blackfoot & Idaho Falls. So we stayed in Idaho Falls & went from there to Craters of the Moon & then went to the Blackfoot way going home so we weren’t back tracking.
Craters of the Moon really is in the middle of nowhere! But it is a pretty drive through the fields. Then as you get closer you start seeing black lava rock. Then you come up to the visitor center & you see black lava rock everywhere! We kept saying “we landed on the moon!” & now Beck won’t stop saying it haha. It really does feel like another world!
We went to the visitors center first to learn what there was & to get a map. I recommend doing that because they told us more about the caves & which ones we should head for. Indian Tunnel is the cave we went to & we were told the only one where you don’t have to crawl & it is the largest. It is filled with large rocks & when you come up to it looks a little scary to go down into but just hold onto other rocks & bring a flashlight.
When we went it was pouring rain so things were a little slippery so I didn’t climb up the high rock piles to take a picture like I wanted to because I also was only wearing Birkenstocks haha. We didn’t see any bats dang it even though we were looking haha.
My favorite part was the black rock hill. You hiked up to the top & it was so unique & pretty. It was pouring while we were at this part & so freezing so I would love to come back here sometime to get really cool pictures. It would be really fun to camp here too since it is kinda a far drive out.
The whole National Monument is the size of Rhode Island so big but the loop you drive isn’t long. You can do it all in half a day with getting out and exploring. It would be the perfect summer activity with a picnic.
Next time you are in Idaho & want to feel like you ventured onto the moon head here! I even got a postcard that said in the 60’s that astronauts came to Craters of the Moon before going to space to see what they might experience. Pretty cool!
