North Crater Flow Trail
in Idaho
An excellent introduction to the Craters of the Moon landscape, an easy, paved 0.3 mi (0.5 km) loop winds through a pahoehoe lava flow that spilled from the North Crater vent about 2,100 years ago. For your safety and in order to protect this sensitive area, off-trail travel is not permitted. This raised boardwalk is wheelchair accessible.
The trail is one-way and begins at the left side of the parking area. Caution should be used as the distance between the boardwalk and the ground exceeds 4 feet in some places. Corresponds to #2 on the park brochure map.
- States
- Idaho
- Trail type
- National Monument & Preserve trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Boise, ID · 133 mi · ~3.8 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 43.4576°, -113.5586°
About Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve
This trail is inside Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve, a national monument & preserve managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $20 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/northcraterflowtrail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked North Crater Flow Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.