About this place
Craters of the Moon is a geologic wonderland of 750,000 acres. The Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service run it jointly.
At the center of it is the Great Rift, a 52-mile crack in the Earth’s crust.
The volcanic landscape there is remarkably well preserved. Exposed fissures, lava fields, lava tubes, craters and cinder cones make a strange, beautiful sea of rock across central Idaho’s Snake River Plain.
Eruptions began 15,000 years ago and built all of it. That was the last period of volcanic activity here.
The most recent one was only 2,100 years ago. More are likely.
There is walking, camping, cross-country skiing, wildlife watching and backcountry travel.
The seven-mile Loop Road and the trails in the National Park Service section give easy access. That suits anyone just passing through.
A network of primitive roads runs through the backcountry the Bureau of Land Management looks after. Those roads need a high clearance four wheel drive.
The National Park Service runs all the camping facilities. That means Lava Flow, the one campground inside. It charges, about $15 a site in the main season, and it goes first come, first served.
The free option is camping with nothing marked out on public land inside the monument and near it.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Roads around it
- The seven-mile Loop Road is easy. The back country roads need high clearance and four-wheel drive
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
18 miles southwest of Arco on Highway 20/26/93, or 24 miles northeast of Carey on the same road. It is 84 miles from Idaho Falls and 90 miles from Twin Falls.
Coordinates 43.4625, -113.56
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one, along with some better-known places.
- Appendicitis Hill Wilderness Study Area Directions
- Smiley Mountain Directions
- Friedman Creek Wilderness Study Area Directions
- Big Southern Butte Directions
- Pioneer Mountain Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Lost River, ID Directions
- Bellevue, ID Directions
Bellevue is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
Nine in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Silver Creek (North and South), Idaho — 26 miles in a straight line, but a 33 mile drive.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.