Craters of the Moon National Monument in Southeastern Idaho is a 83 square mile basaltic lava field created by more than 15,000 years of volcanic activity.
Visitors can view many interesting volcanic features, such as lava tubes, several types of lava flows, cinder cones, and spatter cones.
In the 1960s this area was used to train the astronauts for the Apollo moon landings.
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve has examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava as well as tree molds and other volcanic features.
Geologist Harold T. Stearns coined the name “Craters of the Moon” in 1923.
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