• View of the Great Rift

    Craters Of The Moon

    National Monument & Preserve Idaho

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  • All roads and facilities are open

    The Visitor Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Obtain a permit before entering any authorized cave.

Nature & Science

deer in front of spatter cones
 

The awesome effects of volcanism are evident throughout Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Over the past 15,000 years, lava eruptions created a rugged landscape that provides habitat for a surprising diversity of plants and animals in a high desert ecosystem.

Preservation of the unique geological and biological features found here is the overriding purpose of the Monument. To that end, basic and applied scientific research, resource inventories, and monitoring of resource conditions play important roles in the identification, characterization, and interpretation of the Monument’s resources.

 

Research Permit

A permit is required for scientific research in the park. Permits can be obtained through the NPS Research Permit and Reporting website.

 
  • Great Rift Science Symposium Great Rift Science Symposium

    View and print the proceedings of this 2005 conference (pdf). Read More

  • Inventories of Inventories of

    Natural resources in Upper Columbia Basin parks Read More

Did You Know?

Did You Know?

Watch out for bombs! Before they cooled, volcanic bombs were hot globs of lava that were hurled from volcanoes along the Great Rift. They form a variety of interesting shapes described as "breadcrust", "spindle" and "ribbons" by geologists.