The view that greeted the first human visitors to what is now southern Idaho was much different than what tourists to Craters of the Moon see today. For thousands of years prior to European settlement, huge volcanic eruptions regularly rocked the landscape. Dozens of cinder cones, enormous open rift cracks, miles of subterranean lava tubes, and 60 different lava flows—the youngest a mere 2,000 years old—are testament to the area’s violent geologic past. An overnight trip to Echo Crater via the Wilderness Trail is a favorite for backpackers.