North Menan Butte — Crater Bowl Trail
Menan / North Menan Butte, Idaho
Activity
Hiking / Volcano
Distance
0.6 mi round trip
Route
Out & back
The adventure
Skip the rim this time and cut through the bowl of one of America's strangest freshwater-born volcanoes. Take the short bowl route through North Menan Butte and experience the tuff cone from the inside. The butte formed when magma explosively interacted with water.
Leave the North Menan Butte parking area, follow the 0.6-mile route through the bowl, cross the crater interior, return to the trailhead. The Menan Buttes are unusual because the eruptions occurred through freshwater. Rattlesnakes can occur in the rocky terrain.
ONCE YOU’RE THERE Start from the same North Menan Butte trailhead used for the rim route. Choose the shorter signed route through the bowl rather than committing to the full rim circuit. Stay on established tread across the fragile volcanic terrain and return to the parking area.
LOCAL INTEL A vault toilet and interpretive signs are available at the parking area.
FEES, PERMITS & ACCESS No mandatory entrance, parking, access, permit, reservation, or similar fee is required to complete this Adventure as routed.
What to expect
- Take the short bowl route through North Menan Butte and experience the tuff cone from the inside.
- Start from the same North Menan Butte trailhead used for the rim route. Choose the shorter signed route through the bowl rather than committing to the full rim circuit. Stay on established tread across the fragile volcanic terrain and return to the parking area.
Good to know
- TUFF CONE
- The butte formed when magma explosively interacted with water.
- FRESHWATER ERUPTION
- The Menan Buttes are unusual because the eruptions occurred through freshwater.
- WATCH YOUR STEP
- Rattlesnakes can occur in the rocky terrain.
- TRAILHEAD TOILET
- A vault toilet and interpretive signs are available at the parking area.
- TOUCH NOTHING, NOTICE EVERYTHING
- Find three different volcanic textures without collecting a single rock.
- Fee
- Free — no required entrance or parking fee.
- Entrance fee
- No mandatory entrance, parking, access, permit, reservation, or similar fee is required to complete this Adventure as routed.
- Dogs
- unknown.
Photos
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