Broken Top Loop Trail – Hiking Idaho

From the Spatter Cones, Mel and I continue the counterclockwise drive on the 7-mile loop road, to a spur which leads through the Big Sink in Lava Cascades, then park at the trailheads to the Broken Top, Tree Molds and Wilderness trails.  We will begin with the self-guiding, 1.8 mile (2.9 KM) Broken Top Loop Trail which circumnavigates a cinder cone.

The approach to the trail gives a hint of the diverse volcanic features we are about to experience.

The Broken Top Loop trail initially climbs gentle elevation and long views over Craters of the Moon National Monument begin to unfold.  Along the trail, there are 10 numbered markers as we hike up, around and through the freshest lava on the Snake River Plain.  At Marker # 1 we observe a depression.  This deep tear in the earth sprayed frothy, molten rock high into the air and the adjacent cinder cone formed as cinders fell back to earth.

At marker # 2, the northern horizon shows the demarcation line between the Craters of the Moon lava field and the Pioneer Mountains.  This also marks the north end of the 52 mile-long (83.2 KM) series of fissures known as the Great Rift.  Craters of the Moon National Monument protects nearly all the Great Rift within 750,000 acres of land.

Marker # 3 is a short 0.25 mile spur off the main trail to the Big Sink Overlook which is a huge lava flow called the Blue Dragon.  This is one of the youngest lava flows in Idaho at 2,100 years.  Brilliant blue glass colours the landscape of this flow and the loop road through the Blue Dragon is obvious.

At Marker # 4, Mel and I are walking over cinder which crackles and crunches under our feet.  Cinders contain gas bubbles which makes some of them light enough to float on water.  Thin layers of glass coating the cinders reflect rainbows of light.

Looking to the south, as we hike around the cinder cone, at Marker # 5 Big Southern Butte rises from the plain about 25 miles (40 KM)  to the east.  It is a massive dome, of the lava form of granite, formed about 300,000 years ago when rhyolite lava broke through the layers of dark basalt to form this peak.

At Marker # 6, we are looking for lava ‘bombs’.  When the fissure was erupting, large chunks of lava were thrown high in the air and cooled in-flight into diverse, rock-like shapes which litter the surface around us.

Clear indication of the reason this trail is called Broken Top becomes evident.  The flat crust of lava is like a mantle at Marker # 7.  The rise behind the mantle is a pressure ridge.  The crust cools and hardens while molten lave continues to flow underneath.  Pressure below the roof forces the crust upwards and causes the mantle to bend and break.

At this point along the Broken Top Loop Trail, we have the option to swing left onto the 4 mile (6.4 KM) Wilderness Trail which leads to molds of upright trees called ‘lava trees and the wilderness beyond.

Mel and I will pass the Wilderness Trail option and continue along the Broken Top Loop Trail to Buffalo Caves.

At Marker # 8 we gear up for the only caving experience available on this trip.  It will be covered in a separate post and here we will continue to Big Cinder Butte at Marker # 9.

A fountain of fire more than 1,500 ft (457 m) high produced the Big Cinder Butte.  It is 700 ft (213.4 m) high and is the largest cinder cone within Craters of the Moon National Monument.

As Mel and I continue to the end , we are hiking through pahoehoe lava flows.  This Hawaiian word means ‘ropy’ and this is clearly obvious as we complete the loop back to the trailhead.  It is a fascinating learning experience in unusual and starkly beautiful terrain.

We have one trail remaining before we leave Craters of the Moon National Monument and continue south on our way to our primary objective at Yosemite National Park in California.