Arco, Idaho.

This scenic byway in south-central Idaho starts on U.S. 20 at Shoshone, travels past Craters of the Moon National Monument northeast to Arco, and then north along U..S. 93 to Challis. On that northern leg, it parallels the Lost River Mountain Range. Some of the state’s highest mountains are in that range, including the highest mountain in the state, Mount Borah. Plan about 3 hours for the 140-mile (225 km) drive.

Our journey on this trip, however, covered only that portion between Shoshone and Arco. The opening image features a view of the Pioneer Mountains, a much shorter range than Lost River, that parallels the Craters of the Moon National Monument. The Pioneer Mountains mark an east-west shortcut for settlers in the 1850s as they tried to avoid skirmishes with the Shoshone Indians. That route, known as Goodale’s Cutoff ran along the base of these mountains.

On the other side of the road, the northern border of Craters of the Moon is easily identified as the flow of lava stopped there. In the background is the tallest of more than 25 cinder cone volcanoes. Big Cinder Butte is accessible via a road within the national monument. If you are planning a visit to the park, you can get a much closer view of this cinder cone volcano.

As you arrive at Arco, you will probably notice the large hill in the background above the city with a multitude of numbers painted on the hillside. To see the numbers clearly, you’ll need to click on the image to get the 4K HD Flickr image and then click twice to zoom in. Number Hill started gathering numbers when the Arco class of 1920 painted a large “20” onto a rock face on the hillside. Every year since then, the graduating class has memorialized their year on the mountainside. That begs the question so that it is now over a century since the painting began, did the class of 2020 paint their own “20” on the hill, or is the 1920 version good enough? What about 2021? I did not find an answer to those questions.

Given our choice to travel only the southwestern portion of the route, I noted that the byway starts at Shoshone. Well, the name belies that statement. Highway 93 near Challis and the Lost River Mountains mark the start of Peaks to Craters. The westbound highway to Shoshone marks the end of the byway as it connects to the Sawtooth Scenic Byway.

From Arco, to stay on the byway, you turn northwest on U.S. 93 toward MacKay and Challis. However, our next stop on our long journey is easterly so we continued on U.S. 26 and U.S. 20 toward Idaho Falls.

We would eventually find ourselves in the Snake River Valley. The image above features a view of the river near Idaho Falls. Strictly speaking, this image and the remaining images in the gallery are no longer on the byway, but the scenery between Arco and Idaho Falls is well worth the journey.

Click on the image above to get a close-up view and to see the entire gallery in 4K HD, if your browser allows. In Flickr, clicking an area of the image will give you a closer view if you only have an HD monitor.

John Steiner

Arco, Idaho.

We traveled along the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway on our way between Carey and Arco to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument. The story of the byway will be featured in an upcoming Travel Tuesday, however today I focus my lens on probably the most unusual landscape I’ve seen in the United States.

Though the volcanic activities have been relatively quiet, there is still underground seismic activity ongoing that, for now, has closed part of the park. According to the United States Geological Service (USGS), the area around the national monument is one of the youngest volcanic areas in Idaho and is considered the most likely to erupt.

The National Monument is larger than I expected. At the Visitor Center, a ranger described the area using a satellite map image. The 1117 square mile (2893  sq km) park is shown in dark on the map in the photo above. As we visited during the fall of 2020, the pandemic was in full swing. The Visitor Center was closed, but the rangers were available in open areas outside to visit with and ask questions.

At one location, a huge cinder cone rose high above the general level of the area. If there is a hill, I must climb. Well, from here at the base, it didn’t look that big, so my wife and I started climbing. When we got to about where the person in the photo is walking near the top, we could see that from the base, we couldn’t see the actual peak as the slope changed. What you see in this image is only about two-thirds of the total climb. If you, like me, are older than dirt, plan to take a breather or two on your way to the top.

A cinder cone is created during a violent volcanic event. Bits of congealed lava spew from the central vent and fall in a cone shape around the eruption. Cinder cones can be quite tall. This cone is known as Inferno Cone. According to one source, it is unique in that the 6181-foot (185 m) cone is flat on the top and doesn’t have a central vent. Prevailing winds over the spewing vent blew the bits of lava into the huge cone some distance from the actual vent.

If you decide to hike the short trail to the top, rest assured, you won’t be hiking the 6181 feet from the base. The parking area is only about 185 feet (56 m) below the flat-topped summit. The views from the top of this hill of lava allow you to see the vastness of the volcanic area. Those mountains in the background are on the northwest edge of the lava fields. You can see from here that the fields do indeed cover almost all of that real estate between this point and the mountains. At the conclusion of this post, I will include a gallery of images captured there, including more views from the top of this lava mound. The image below was captured from about half-way up the side of the cone.

We spent the morning at the park which was plenty of time for us to travel the loop road. Hikers may enjoy a trek on one of several trails, each varying in length and difficulty. Due to seismic activity, though, some of the trails have been closed. Check with a park ranger before picking an appropriate hiking trail for more information.

There are 55 volcanic cones and 14 fissures in the park. There are a couple of spatter cones we checked out on our visit. These cones are the result of larger blobs of lava being expelled than the bits that create a cinder cone. The two spatter cones we viewed have paved walkways and a viewing area where you can look directly into the vent that created the cone. I found a source for much detailed information about Craters of the moon that I used in documenting parts of this article. You can read the entire treatise here.

I conclude this journal entry with a gallery of images captured that morning we spent at Craters of the Moon National Monument. As always, I recommend clicking on an image to enlarge it and make it easier to scroll through the collection (if your browser supports the function.)

John Steiner