Craters of the Moon Wilderness — Craters of the Moon National Monument

We came to Craters of the Moon early, ended up being there most of the day. Instead of going on and trying to find dispersed camping, we treated ourselves to a site in the park. Sites are $15, and you must have the American the Beautiful Pass or pay park entry fee. The sites are dry camping with toilet facilities and water (no dump station). The sites are right in amongst lava field and is quite unique.
Campground was very quiet at night and very dark. Could see the sky and stars wonderfully. Definitely a great park and place to stay.

Great sites nestled In The lava rocks. Great hiking or biking the 7mi loop road. We didn't have reservations but got there early (2pm) it looked very full by 6pm. We got our spot, then drove our rv around to the different scenic spots and returned to camp 5 hrs later.

It was a special camping experience. They just renewed all the roads in the park. Campground is right next to loop around the park with some nice spots. Clean flushing toilets and water. Get there in time! We had one of the last spots at 5pm

Nice sites . Some more suitable for tents, other for vans. 

15$ per night, first come first serve. We were there Memorial weekend (Sunday) and there were still spots.

The setting of this campground is nice. Most sites are small. Hard to back into sites due to rocks and narrow road. There are some pull thru sites. First come first served. Check out at noon so try to get there shortly after that. No cell service. Flush toilets with running water. No dump. It is located right in the park.

What could be more cool than sleeping in the bottom of a volcano.  That is what you can do on the Crater of the Moon National Monument's Wilderness Trail.  Sleep in the bottom of Echo Crater.  To backpack and camp in the wilderness area requires a free backcountry permit.  It is a little more than 3 miles of  backpacking to the crater,  the last bit is off trail so you will need the map provided for the area.  Access to the crater is from the east side of the crater, access the crater from any of the other sides is faster but it will be your last as it is a several hundred foot vertical drop to the bottom.  No water sources so you will need to pack at least a gallon of water per person per day.  Make sure you use the vault toilet at the trailhead before heading out, if you need to due #2 you will need to back all of it out, and that's more than just the paper.  No digging a hole and burying it here.  Plenty of flat ground to pitch your tent in the bottom of the crater.

Stayed: 5/12/2021

Cost: FREE (Permit Required)

Site: Just shy of Echo Crater (SEE PIC)

Vehicle: Volkswagen Atlas (Parked at trailhead)

Equipment: Tent

AT&T and T-Mobile: No Service

We were very excited for this hike and dispersed stay. It’s just under 4 miles one way and you must get a free permit from the visitor center to enter the Wilderness area at Craters of the Moon. Unforutanley, we didn’t have an NPS Park Ranger, and we didn’t get as much info as we were hoping while getting our permit. With that, we were relying on the basic park map and previous research to find our way to Echo Crater, the main place to camp.

Take the scenic drive through the entire park until you get to the parking lot and trailheads for 'Tree Molds', 'Broken Top' and 'Wilderness'. From the 'Tree Molds' trailhead, follow the sidewalk that loops back around the parking lot, and look for the sign for the 'Wilderness Trail' (it's a small one and a few steps into the trail - see pic).

I highly suggest using a GPS or more detailed map, to make sure you make it to the crater. We thought we were there, but after getting back to service and pulling up the satellite image, we were just shy of actual Echo Crater (see the map picture for more detail). The sights are stunning, both during the day and night, and both on the hike in and the hike out. No fires are permitted, so make sure to bring a stove. We saw some wildlife, but nothing that was bothersome, or an issue. Also, it definitely gets chilly at night.

However, the trail and hike are absolutely beautiful and very much worth the trek. We only stayed for the one night, but would love to return and actually make it to Echo Crater next time around!

#DareToEverywhere