Craters of the Moon, ID

Craters of the Moon

Overall Score: 6

Price: 7

Kid Friendly: 7

Parent Friendly: 7

Easy Access: 4

Craters of the Moon is a National Monument and Preserve, which means its not cool enough to be a "park", but still cool enough to try and save it for future generations. It is a huge (I mean huge) lava field/bed with paths and caves. It was $10 a car to get in and while we were only there for about 3 hours (we didn't pack enough food), if we were prepared
we could have spent much longer there. I think that part of the reason I like it was that it was slightly chilly. Had it been a hot day, it would not have made a very high score. There are very few trees so be prepared to be in the open your whole day. 

There are miles and miles and miles of trails to explore and all of the ones we went on were very kid friendly (easy footing, not steep). The baby even walked a good portion of the trails we did that day. There was a report of some ladies getting lost there last summer and I can totally see how that happened! If you are directionally and map-readingly challenged, you should not wander far and/or take a guide with you. The kids loved collecting lava rocks and petrified wood. 

There are several caves/ tunnels in the monument that you can explore. I had the baby in the backpack and was able to navigate them. There are big holes however on the side of the path so a good ole scare tactic was issued to the kids before we started and it worked just fine. 

I found the place quite interesting as an adult. I ended up reading many of the signs about how lava flows and how it forms different tunnels and holes and vents and stuff (I obviously did not retain much of the verbiage). 

Access to the monument is not difficult (all paved roads) its just seriously in the middle of nowhere. It is about an hour and a half from our house so I think we will make it a yearly day trip, if you just happen to be in the area (haha, Its funny writing that) then i think it is well worth the time and the $10.