Wednesday we drove about an hour and a half west from Idaho Falls to Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve.
Craters of the Moon is so unique and almost other-world. It got its name because many thought the area resembled the surface of the moon.
We read from a sign, “Miles and miles of lava…but where is the volcano? Instead of erupting from one enormous volcano the lava oozed out from the deep cracks that start near here and stretch 52 miles to the southeast.” We found this completely fascinating.
There is a loop to drive, trails to walk and areas to explore. There are also lava tubes, which are caves formed by the crusting over of lava channels.
We would have loved to walk through the lava tubes, but those were closed. Maybe due to COVID. We did enjoy walking trails and looking around in different areas, though!
The lava rocks were so porous. They were very interesting to see. Cherish accidentally scraped her hand on one and got a very small cut. We didn’t think much of it, as we get lots of little scraps, bumps and bruises.
But within an hour, Cherish turned white and said her stomach hurt bad. We took her to the van. I cleaned her cut and put a bandaid on it. 15-20 minutes later, she was fine. We aren’t positive it had to do with the cut, but it seemed like it. It could have been that she got woozy from seeing the cut or something to do with the lava rock.
Craters of the Moon breeds such curiosity and a desire to know more. It definitely caused us to want to read the signs to learn more about each area.
It was one the the weirdest and most unique landscapes we’ve seen.
It was worth the drive and time, such a fun place to experience!
