Craters of the Moon

August 6, 2012: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.

"The surface of the moon as seen through a telescope" is how geologist Harold T. Stearns described this area in 1923. Stearns saw a place where "the dark craters and the cold lava [were] nearly destitute of vegetation." In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge established Craters of the Moon National Monument to preserve "a weird and scenic landscape, peculiar to itself."

The craters of Craters of the Moon are definitely of volcanic origin. The vast volumes of lava issued not from one volcano but from long fissures across the Snake River Plain that are known collectively as the "Great Rift." Beginning about 15, 000 years ago, lava welled up from the Great Rift to produce this vast ocean of rock. The most recent eruption occurred a mere 2,000 years ago, and geologists believe that future events are likely.

On the Way to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve - On the way to the Visitor Center . . . Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. Between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago, the Craters of the Moon Lava Field formed during eight major eruptive periods. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles. The Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields formed contemporaneously about 2,200 years ago. Until the next eruption, ongoing -but subtle- changes continue to affect the geology of Craters of the Moon. These environmental factors include gravity, weather, as well as other natural and human caused effects on this volcanic landscape. For additional information, visit National Park Service - Craters of the Moon website.
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Visitor Center
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Crater Fragment - This is a crater fragment from a broken crater wall that fell into the lava flow. The crater didn't explode. The wall fragment just fell into the lava which then floated the wall fragment.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) - Limber Pine is a small to medium sized tree, averaging 20 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Slow growing, long-lived species, sometimes taking several hundred years to reach maturity. Mature trees may exceed 1000 years of age. The central trunk is usually distorted, many branched, and twisted. Limber Pine reproduces entirely from seed. Limber Pine grows across a wide range of elevations, inhabiting some of the driest sites capable of supporting trees. It is most often found in more open and dry environments and is typical on exposed, rocky mountainsides.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Triple Twist Tree - This "Triple Twist Tree" suggests, because of its 1,350 growth rings, that the eruptions ceased only 2,000 years ago. This tree is an ancient Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis). Limber Pine is a small to medium sized tree, averaging 20 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Slow growing, long-lived species, sometimes taking several hundred years to reach maturity. Mature trees may exceed 1000 years of age. The central trunk is usually distorted, many branched, and twisted. Limber Pine reproduces entirely from seed. Limber Pine grows across a wide range of elevations, inhabiting some of the driest sites capable of supporting trees. It is most often found in more open and dry environments and is typical on exposed, rocky mountainsides.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Triple Twist Tree - This "Triple Twist Tree" suggests, because of its 1,350 growth rings, that the eruptions ceased only 2,000 years ago. This tree is an ancient Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis). Limber Pine is a small to medium sized tree, averaging 20 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Slow growing, long-lived species, sometimes taking several hundred years to reach maturity. Mature trees may exceed 1000 years of age. The central trunk is usually distorted, many branched, and twisted. Limber Pine reproduces entirely from seed. Limber Pine grows across a wide range of elevations, inhabiting some of the driest sites capable of supporting trees. It is most often found in more open and dry environments and is typical on exposed, rocky mountainsides.
North Crater Flow Trail - Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) - Limber Pine is a small to medium sized tree, averaging 20 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Slow growing, long-lived species, sometimes taking several hundred years to reach maturity. Mature trees may exceed 1000 years of age. The central trunk is usually distorted, many branched, and twisted. Limber Pine reproduces entirely from seed. Limber Pine grows across a wide range of elevations, inhabiting some of the driest sites capable of supporting trees. It is most often found in more open and dry environments and is typical on exposed, rocky mountainsides.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
$North Crater Flow Trail - The types and density of vegetation vary considerably and depend on such factors as geology, availability of soil and water, aspect, air temperature, and exposure to wind. The density of vegetation on lava flows depends primarily on the amount of soil available. Although lava flow surfaces support only lichens, vascular plants are able to grow in depressions on those surfaces. When basalt rock is very young, the only soil available is whatever blows into cracks and fractures. As soil develops within these cracks over time, vegetation can begin to grow. The depth of crevices, cracks, and depressions fixes the amount of soil and moisture that can be held. The size of the crack also determines the types of plants that will grow and what degree of protection they will have from harsh climactic conditions, such as extreme air temperatures and exposure to high winds.$
North Crater Flow Trail - The types and density of vegetation vary considerably and depend on such factors as geology, availability of soil and water, aspect, air temperature, and exposure to wind. The density of vegetation on lava flows depends primarily on the amount of soil available. Although lava flow surfaces support only lichens, vascular plants are able to grow in depressions on those surfaces. When basalt rock is very young, the only soil available is whatever blows into cracks and fractures. As soil develops within these cracks over time, vegetation can begin to grow. The depth of crevices, cracks, and depressions fixes the amount of soil and moisture that can be held. The size of the crack also determines the types of plants that will grow and what degree of protection they will have from harsh climactic conditions, such as extreme air temperatures and exposure to high winds.
North Crater Flow Trail - Here in the path of a lava flow, you can view a variety of volcanic features, now frozen in time. The trail crosses over the most recent of several successive flows to a group of monoliths or crater wall fragments transported by lava flows that originated from the North Crater area. This flow is one of the youngest. The North Crater is about 2,000 years old and is one of the most recent cones formed in the park. Pioneering plants include limber pine and antelope bitterbrush. Much bare rock is still showing and shapes are angular, less weathered. Along this trail are fine examples of both pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava (smooth or ropy lava) and a'a (ah-ah) lava (rough, jagged lava) flows on North Crater Flow. Up the road along the North Crater Trail is a longer, steep trail where you can peer into a volcano vent. This trail goes onto the North Crater Flow, a pahoehoe flow, that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,200 years ago.
North Crater Flow Trail - Lubber Grasshopper
North Crater Flow Trail - Crater Fragments - These are crater fragments from a broken crater wall that fell into the lava flow. The crater didn't explode. The wall fragments just fell into the lava which then floated the wall fragments.
North Crater Flow Trail - Crater Fragments - These are crater fragments from a broken crater wall that fell into the lava flow. The crater didn't explode. The wall fragments just fell into the lava which then floated the wall fragments.

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Craters of the Moon