About Craters of the Moon
The monument is a geologic wonder cast in a wild and remote landscape. Its central focus is the Great Rift, a 62-mile long crack in the earth's crust. The Great Rift is the source of a remarkably preserved volcanic landscape with an array of exceptional features. Craters, cinder coves, lava tubes, deep cracks, and vast lava fields form a strangely beautiful volcanic sea on central Idaho's Snake River Plain.
Volcanic eruptions first occurred at Craters of the Moon about 15,000 years ago. The most recent eruptions ended about 2,100 years ago and were likely witnessed by the Shoshone people. The volcanic area now lies dormant, but its eight eruptive periods formed 60 lava flows, which traveled as far as 45 miles from their vents. Some of the lava flowed around areas of higher ground, forming isolated islands of vegetation called "kipukas". Today, these kipukas provide a window on the vegetation communities of the past. They contain some of the last pristine vegetation in the Snake River Plain, including 700-year-old juniper trees and relic stands of sagebrush and native bunchgrass.
Craters of the Moon Facts
- Location: Idaho (160 miles east of Boise)
- Size: 661,00 acres
- Date: President Calvin Coolidge created Craters of the Moon National Monument in 1924. President Clinton expanded the monument boundaries in November 2000
- Managing Agency: National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management
Partner Groups
