Hiking & Adventure
Big Cinder Butte & the Great Rift backcountry
Craters of the Moon · South Central Idaho
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Hiking & Adventure
- COUNTRY
- United States
- REGION
- Craters of the Moon · South Central Idaho
- DURATION
- 2
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
The monument’s backcountry: Big Cinder Butte — one of the world’s largest basaltic cinder cones at about 800 feet tall — rises from the wilderness interior beyond the loop road, with the Wilderness’s flows, caves and the Great Rift’s vents reachable only on foot.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
Big Cinder Butte is the largest cinder cone in the monument’s field — roughly 800 feet high — erupted along the Great Rift; beyond the loop road the field becomes designated wilderness, protected when the Craters of the Moon National Wilderness was designated in 1970 and expanded in 2000 with the monument’s national preserve status. The backcountry’s flows, caves and rift vents are reached on foot with permits for overnight trips; the Shoshone’s trails across the field predate all of them, and the wilderness interior remains one of the quietest volcanic landscapes in North America. Big Cinder is the largest cinder cone in the field at roughly 800 feet tall, erupted along the rift; the wilderness interior beyond the loop road was protected in 1970 and expanded with the monument’s national preserve status in 2000, and overnight trips into the flows and rift vents run on permits from the visitor centre.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
GOOD TO KNOW
Facts & Curiosities
Big Cinder Butte stands about 800 feet tall — among the largest basaltic cinder cones on Earth.
The monument’s backcountry was designated wilderness in 1970 and expanded in 2000.
Overnight backcountry trips require permits from the visitor centre.
The Great Rift’s vent line runs south from the cones into the wilderness.
MAP & LOCATION
Big Cinder Butte & the Great Rift backcountry
Big Cinder Butte & the Great Rift backcountry, Craters of the Moon, South Central Idaho, United States
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Craters of the Moon
THINGS TO DO
Things to do nearby
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
The Lost Taco — Arco’s favorite street-Mexican counter.
Bad Boyz Pizza — lava-hot pies and cold beer in Arco.
Mountain View RV Park restaurant — southern BBQ plates on the way to the monument.
Pick’s Place — burgers, shakes and the town’s lunch counter.
Carey’s Antelope Creek Ranch B&B dining — reservation dinners on the road south.
Picnic at the monument — shaded tables at the visitor center (pack in, pack out).
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Craters of the Moon KOA — full-hookup pool-and-cabin resort 19 miles from the visitor center (see camping).
Mountain View RV Park — grassy full-hookup sites with BBQ restaurant in Arco (see camping).
Craters of the Moon RV Park — 30/50-amp pull-throughs minutes from town (see camping).
The monument’s Lava Flow Campground — tent-and-small-RV sites under the cinder hills (see camping).
Mackay’s motels and the White Knob RV park 40 minutes north in the Pioneer valley.
Carey’s Silver Creek area ranch stays 30 minutes south.
ITINERARIES
Day-by-day routes
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
ROUTES
Routes through here
Broken Top Loop & the Spatter Cones
The monument’s classic loop: a perfect spatter cone, a bomb field, and a half-collapsed crater through wildflower country.
3 km · 1.5 h · easy
VIEW ROUTEPeaks-to-Craters Scenic Byway
Sixty miles from Borah Peak’s alpine face across the Lost River valley into the black lava — Idaho’s strangest drive.
95 km · 2.5 h · easy
VIEW ROUTEPeaks to Craters — Ketchum to Challis via Mackay
Idaho’s empty middle: 183 km from Ketchum up the Lost River valley beneath 12,662-foot Borah Peak to Challis — high desert, big peaks and no traffic.
183 km · 4.9 h · easy
VIEW ROUTECraters of the Moon Loop — Arco to Mackay
A ride through two Idahos: 120 km from Arco — the first town powered by nuclear electricity — through the black lava fields of Craters of the Moon to Mackay beneath the Lost River wall.
120 km · 3.7 h · easy
VIEW ROUTEPART OF
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