Really, Where Are the Potatoes? Craters of the Moon and Dinosaur National Monuments (by Sunshine)

Volcanoes AND dinosaurs? What more could a 3-year-old boy ask for? Of course, the volcanoes weren't active anymore. And the dinosaurs were all dead. But we made sure not to tell him that beforehand.

On July 26, we arrived at Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. We still hadn’t seen any potato fields or even land that looked like it could support potatoes!

The monument is otherworldly, a vast volcanic landscape made up of jumbled black basaltic rock, cinder cones rising into the sky, stringy lava flows frozen in time, and long lava tubes created by rivers of flowing lava that harden around the outside. After exploring the visitor center and taking in a geology-themed ranger program, we chose a campsite built into the black jumble of lava rocks.

Jumble of black lava rock and cinder cone

That afternoon, we hiked the North Crater Flow Trail (0.3 mile), which interpreted the different formations that we were seeing on the landscape. We then drove to the Caves Area of the park and joined a ranger-led tour of Indian Cave, a massive lava tube that has caverns where entire groups of people can stand. Collapsed sections of the roof created skylights that lit up the cave. We even saw a little brown bat flying above our heads.

Indian Cave tour

Entering Boy Scout Cave

Walden loved exploring the lava tubes, especially Boy Scout Cave, a much smaller and darker tunnel. We had to wear our headlamps, climb over boulders of lava, and duck through narrow passages. Even though the temperatures outside reach over 100 degrees, there is ice in the cave year-around. When we left the cave Walden said, “This is a really good day!” That evening we went to a Junior Ranger program about the different kind of rangers in a park, and Walden earned his Junior Ranger badge.

View from the top of Echo Crater

The next day (July 27) was windy and cold, and a series of storms moved through the area dropping rain and even hail. It was fascinating to experience because the monument only receives an average of 3 inches of rain all summer. I think we experienced all 3 inches! I came down with a terrible head cold, so Walden and I spent the day resting in the Burro while Jim went hiking. Jim hiked the Wilderness Trail (8 miles), which leads, not surprisingly, into the wilderness area of the monument. The trail winds through a vast plain of brown cinder cones, shrubs, and lava tree molds, where lava flowed around trees that left deep holes after they decomposed. Several flowers of yellow and purple were able to take root in the crunchy cinders. Pinyon pines were filled with Clark’s Nutcrackers poking into cones in search of seeds. He climbed to the top of Echo Crater for a breathtaking view of the storms sweeping over the landscape.

Moon rises over Spatter Cones

I was feeling better the next day (July 28) so we spent the morning exploring the cinder cones, craters, and lava flows in the monument. We drove the 7-mile scenic loop drive and stopped so I could climb a half mile up the Inferno Cone, a giant cinder mountain. We explored the Spatter Cones and peered over the edge of a crater. We all enjoyed the Broken Top Loop Trail (1.8 mi) that climbs up a cinder cone, provides close-up views of Blue Dragon lava (named for the amazing blue iridescence that shines from its surface in the sun) and lava bombs (ball-shaped rock that cooled in the air as it tumbled around), and provided another opportunity to explore a lava tube called Buffalo Cave with our headlamps.  

Posing with a large Lava Bomb

Pahoehoe lava frozen in time

Craters of the Moon National Monument encompasses 60 lava flows covering 618 square miles along the same hot spot that created Yellowstone National Park. The oldest volcanoes in the Monument are 15,000 years old and the youngest flows are only 2,000 years old. Being there is a lot like being on the Big Island of Hawaii with black rock as far as the eye can see. Below the ground of the monument is the Snake River Aquifer which is the size of Delaware. The water seeps through porous volcanic rock and dissolves the basalt creating rich mineral water that can be used in irrigation for growing – you guessed it – potatoes! After we drove southeast out of Craters of the Moon we finally saw our first potato fields. And the site of the Idaho National Laboratory because apparently desolate areas of desert surrounded by lava fields are also great locations for testing nuclear capabilities.

Even though it was mid-afternoon by the time we left Craters of the Moon, we decided to push as far as we could toward our next stop—Dinosaur National Monument. After five hours, we entered a fascinating, brilliant red canyon area. Along the road were signs explaining what types of ancient sea creatures, fossils, and dinosaurs were found in various rock layers we traveled through. We were on the edge of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in the Ashley National Forest. About 8 p.m. we passed a nature trail with interpretive signs right next to a campground. That was enticing enough to stop for the night after a long days drive.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

We spent the night in Manns Campground and walked the short nature trail in the morning. On our way out of the area, we stopped at a scenic overlook of Flaming Gorge. It was one of several Recreation Areas we’d seen on the trip created when a river was dammed and a canyon was filled. I’m torn about how I feel about these areas. Some of them are quite beautiful with colorful steep canyon walls and deep blue water below. They are usually filled with speed boats or fishermen. They provide opportunities for water-based recreation in an area that might not have it, as well as much needed power generation, but at the same time I always wonder what the cost to the ecosystem was in altering the natural landscape.

Mid-day (July 29) we reached Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Jim and Walden were super excited for this stop. Jim had visited here with his family on vacation when he was a boy and always remembered the experience. I was intrigued but a little indifferent. Dinosaurs just aren’t my thing. The monument encompasses the original dinosaur quarry that was excavated in the 1920s, which is, of course, what most visitors stop to see. But it also includes vast areas of high desert, colorful cliffs, canyons, rivers, petroglyphs, and homesteader sites. We explored the visitor center and much to Walden’s dismay, there were no buttons to press. He did enjoy the play table full of plastic dinosaurs in the gift shop though.

Playing at the dinosaur table

Walden pretends to be a dinosaur

After we dropped the Burro at the campground and had lunch (we were expecting a desert camping experience, but were pleasantly surprised that the sites were next to a river and partially shaded by cottonwoods), we headed back to the visitor center to board the “Dinosaur Tram.” The open air tram with dinosaurs painted on the side drove us through a massive metal gate that slid open between two high canyon walls. The National Park Service did a good job of creating a Jurassic Park feeling experience. The tram dropped us off next to a glass-sided building on top a pile of crumbling rock (so crumbling, in fact, that the original building’s foundation was unstable so was closed for five years and rebuilt). The new two-story structure was built around a quarry rock wall (the Morrison Formation) filled with dinosaur bones. The area had once been a river and the bodies of the ancient creatures piled up in the mud leaving a site of unusually high concentration of dinosaur bones.

Touching a real dinosaur bone in the quarry

Walden again didn’t find any buttons in the museum, but did enjoy the Dino-cam which was a computer screen that allowed you to zoom in on any part of the bone wall. At certain points, you could click on a bone and the computer would show you what part of the dinosaur’s body it was from. (Note from Jim: Despite Sunshine's lack of enthusiasm :), it was an AMAZING experience to touch the real fossilized dinosaur bones still embedded in rock. While you can always read about dinosaurs in books or watch them in movies, touching the actual bones of these extinct beasts was a powerful connection to the reality of these creatures that once roamed the earth).

Touching a dinosaur bone on the Fossil Discovery Trail

From the museum, we hiked the 0.7 mile Fossil Discovery Trail back to the visitor center. The trail passed three areas highlighting fossilized clams, dinosaur bones, and fish scales. We weren’t able to locate most of the fossils and were a bit disappointed by the trail. Personally, I think the location of the fossils were vague on purpose because they didn’t want people to touch or steal the specimens. At the museum, I was talking to one of the rangers outside while Walden examined various rocks with a hand lens set out for visitors. I was trying to understand why the dinosaur bones were located where they were, but every answer the ranger gave me was related to how well the fossil sites were protected by state and federal law. I tried to explain that I wasn’t a bone hunter and just wanted to learn something, but the conversation felt very strained so I gave up.

Petroglyphs along the Tilted Rocks Auto Tour

Next, we drove the 10-mile Tilted Rocks Auto Tour stopping at various points of interest along the way. We saw some interesting petroglyphs, learned about the various rock formations, and explored an old homestead. All the while, Jim and I discussed how we felt like something was missing from our experience at Dinosaur. The interpretation seemed too broad and tried to cover so many parts of the monument including the two rivers it protects. Most people come to the park to see the dinosaur bones, but there was really very little interpretation about dinosaurs, other than to identify the bones you could see in the wall (and you had to make an effort with a booklet to do that). We were left with so many questions, even though we’d watched the terribly boring movie, explored the visitor center and museum, hiked the discovery trail, and read the booklet along the interpretive drive.

Hiking Sound of Silence Trail

It was a beautiful evening and a nearly full moon rose over the colorful mountains. In the morning (July 30), before the temperature got too hot, we hiked the 3-mile Sound of Silence trail through crazy rock formations in beautiful shades of red, white, yellow, and brown. Walden played his "phone game" for most of the hike, in which he calls someone (Grandma, Grandpa, Aya, Kahlo, princesses, Minions, Cookie Monster, etc.) and talks to them on the phone. In addition to carrying Walden on his back, Daddy also has to play a variety of characters and come up with interesting conversations!

Colorful rocks on the Sound of Silence Trail

Our Junior Ranger

We had been in the Utah portion of the monument. We packed up the Burro and continued our journey to a visitor center in the Colorado portion of the monument to see if they had any buttons to press (for Walden) and any patches (for Jim). On the way, Walden worked on his Junior Ranger booklet. When we arrived, there were no buttons or patches, but Walden was sworn in as a Dinosaur Junior Ranger. He certainly has quite the collection of Junior Ranger badges!

While we had lunch in the picnic area by the parking lot of the visitor center we watched motorcycle after motorcycle pull in. Most of the drivers were European including Dutch and Germans. Sturgis, an annual motorcycle rally in South Dakota, is next week and it is the 75th anniversary so we expected to see lots of bikes on the road (and intentionally planned not to be in that part of the country right now).

What an amazing diversity of things to see! Despite the lack of spewing lava and roaring dinosaurs, we had an amazing time exploring, climbing, and playing in the national monuments. Now, we're off to Grand Junction, Colorado!