Hiking & Nature
Spatter Cones & the Great Rift
Craters of the Moon · South Central Idaho
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- Craters of the Moon · South Central Idaho
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ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
The monument’s volcanic plumbing on display: a line of steep-sided spatter cones along the Great Rift’s vent zone, where lava fountained through cracks in the plain. The roadside cones and the Big Craters beyond make the rift’s anatomy readable in an afternoon.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
The spatter cones formed where lava fountains threw molten globs that built steep-walled throats along the Great Rift — the 40-mile-long crack system where the plain is being pulled apart; the cones and the Big Craters beyond are part of the northern rift’s most recent vent line. The Shoshone named features across the field, and the 1920s–30s road builders routed the loop drive past the cones; the roadside stop with its interpretive panels is the standard explanation of the rift’s mechanics, and hikers continuing to Big Craters cross flows only a couple of millennia old. The Great Rift is the crack system — some 40 miles long — where the plain is being pulled apart, and the spatter cones built their steep throats where lava fountained through the rift’s vents; the 1920s–30s road builders routed the loop drive past the cones, and hikers continuing to Big Craters cross flows only a couple of millennia old.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
GOOD TO KNOW
Facts & Curiosities
The Great Rift is a crack system about 40 miles long across the Snake River Plain.
Spatter cones built steep throats where lava fountained through rift cracks.
The northern rift’s most recent eruptions are only about 2,000 years old.
The loop road’s spatter-cone stop dates to the 1920s–30s road-building era.
MAP & LOCATION
Spatter Cones & the Great Rift
Spatter Cones & the Great Rift, Craters of the Moon, South Central Idaho, United States
43.4050, -113.5061
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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