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| Hiking | 1.60 Miles |
123 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.60 Miles | | | |
| 123 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Written 2-17-2026 Finally, after seeing pics from my parents drive through there in 1955, and passing it by many times on my driving treks back and forth,  Craters of the Moon. This time, it was on our agenda after my time in Montana. Wendy had been here back in 2011 when we met up in Glacier Park. Oh, and I was just on the Big Island hiking in Kilauea in May, so I guess I could call this my volcanic year  .
I picked up Wendy at their TH after the work event was completed near Missoula. We drove to Missoula to drop off a couple workers and then Salmon, ID for the night. We stopped to check out Lost Trail Pass. It was really such a nice drive along the Salmon River. We walked around the town, had a good dinner at a local bar and stopped by the town's outdoor museum. The next morning we went to the Sacajawea Center which was fabulous. On our way, we were listening to an audio book about the Lewis and Clark route.
We arrived to a very windy Craters of the Moon National Monument; had trouble opening and/or closing Tonto's doors. We made a couple stops including a quick look-see through the Visitor Center. Our first stop would be the really windy hike on Spatter Cones Trail where you look deep into the cone. We drove over to the east side to get to the Caves Trail Trailhead.
Next up was the Indian Tunnel. I really didn't have proper foot wear; should have changed since we were going in the tunnel. It was windy except when the lava rocks were a little higher. The trail is nicely paved. We stopped at the first cave, Dewdrop from where you can see the source of the Blue Dragon Lava Flow that formed the caves area. The Blue Dragon Flow erupted from a fissure at the base of Big Craters and the Spatter Cones. The Blue Dragon Flow is one of the youngest flows in the park.. Wendy went down and in; I didn't have proper foot wear to navigate the terrain.
We continued walking and passed some old Shoshone Teepee rock rings that were used to weigh down the edges of skin-covered teepees. We soon arrived at the Indian Tunnel Cave which is over 30 feet high, 50 feet wide, and approximately 800 feet long. It has a couple skylights so makes for easier navigation through, on top and over the lava. Lava tube caves are left behind as the eruption subsides and the lava drains from beneath the hardening crust. The lava tubes in the caves area were all formed during the same eruption of the Blue Dragon Flow.
We wanted to go out the other side but my footwear prohibited that difficult terrain. Shoot  . We enjoyed our hike back to the Trailhead as the mixture of terrain from volcanic to hillsides and mountain ranges is rather interesting to say the least. We drove our way to Twin Falls ID for the night finishing my day with a Huckleberry Lemondrop.
Drive from Missoula to Salmon and Sacajawea Center [ youtube video ]
Craters Part 1 [ youtube video ]
Craters Part 2 [ youtube video ]
Craters Part 3 [ youtube video ] |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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