Mountain Home Craters Rings

Between Mountain Home, Idaho and Boise, Idaho are two significant volcanic craters.  The craters are on the south side of the freeway.  Thousands of commuters pass this location daily without the slightest idea that the craters exist.  The only hint from the road is a slight swelling in the surface of the land.  They are worth visiting.

The larger crater is about 3/4 of a mile from crater rim to crater rim and is about 300 feet deep.  The smaller crater is about 1/2 of a mile across.

The easiest access to the craters are from Mountain Home's furthest west freeway exit.  Start at the intersection of Ditto Creek Road with Sunset Strip Road; coordinates: 43° 10.20 north, 115° 44.63' west. 

Head northwest towards Boise along Ditto Creek Road.  This is old highway US 30 from before the freeway was built.  Drive about 5.5 miles until reaching coordinates 43° 13.12' north, 115° 49.36' west. 

Turn left on the all-purpose gravel road.   Drive 1.9 miles until reaching coordinates 43° 12.91' north, 115° 51.46' west. 

Turn left on the jeep trail.   This section of road requires high ground clearance and can become impassable after rainstorms or thawing mud in the spring.  Drive 1.3 miles until reaching coordinates 43° 11.80' north, 115° 51.30' west to arrive at the rim of the larger crater. 

The smaller crater is about 1/4 mile west of this location.

Safety notice:

• This area is typically covered with cheat grass about 1-2 feet tall.  Cheat grass is one of the banes of the west.   Once dried, the seeds will cling to your socks and cause problems for your dogs.  In addition, it is highly flammable.  Make sure you do not park on top of cheat grass where it can contact your catalytic converter.

• The cheat grass hides all of the surface rocks in the area and there are a LOT of surface rocks here.  It is easy to trip on one of these hidden rocks.

• The cheat grass and rocks do a great job of hiding rattlesnakes as well.