   craters of the moon national monument and preserve is a u.s. national monument and national preserve in the snake river plain in central idaho. it is along us 20 (concurrent with us 93 & us 26), between the small towns of arco and carey, at an average elevation of  above sea level. the protected area's features are volcanic and represent one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas in the continental united states. the monument was established on may 2, 1924. in november 2000, a presidential proclamation by president clinton greatly expanded the monument area. the national park service portions of the expanded monument were designated as craters of the moon national preserve in august 2002. it lies in parts of blaine, butte, lincoln, minidoka, and power counties. the area is managed cooperatively by the national park service and the bureau of land management (blm). the monument and preserve encompass three major lava fields and about  of sagebrush steppe grasslands to cover a total area of . all three lava fields lie along the great rift of idaho, with some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on earth at . there are excellent examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava as well as tree molds (cavities left by lava-incinerated trees), lava tubes (a type of cave), and many other volcanic features. == geography and geologic setting == thumb|craters of the moon within idaho craters of the moon is in south-central idaho, midway between boise and yellowstone national park. the lava field reaches southeastward from the pioneer mountains. combined u.s. highway 20-26-93 cuts thro
Bureau_of_Land_Management_areas_in_Idaho Caves_of_Idaho Flood_basalts IUCN_Category_V Landforms_of_Blaine_County,_Idaho Landforms_of_Butte_County,_Idaho Landforms_of_Lincoln_County,_Idaho Landforms_of_Minidoka_County,_Idaho Landforms_of_Power_County,_Idaho Lava_tubes National_Natural_Landmarks_in_Idaho National_Preserves_of_the_United_States Native_American_archeology Polygenetic_volcanic_fields Protected_areas_established_in_1924 Protected_areas_of_Blaine_County,_Idaho Protected_areas_of_Butte_County,_Idaho Protected_areas_of_Minidoka_County,_Idaho Protected_areas_of_Power_County,_Idaho Religious_places_of_the_indigenous_peoples_of_North_America Rift_volcanoes Rock_formations_in_Idaho Units_of_the_National_Landscape_Conservation_System Visitor_attractions_in_Blaine_County,_Idaho Visitor_attractions_in_Butte_County,_Idaho Volcanic_fields_of_the_western_United_States Volcanism_of_Idaho Volcanoes_of_Idaho Yellowstone_hotspot