Lava Flow Campground

Come early since there are no reservations. I stayed here just one night. There is enough to do here for one or two nights. I arrived on Saturday, did two of the hikes. Then woke up early on Sunday and did four more. The park is great and is really interesting. I've never hiked over lava fields or though lava tube caves before. When I was there all but one of the caves was closed to protect the hibernating bats.

My favorite hikes were Indian Cave, Cinder Cone and Broken Top Loop.

When you are out on the hikes there is cell phone reception just not at the campground.

Most of the campsites are small and the roads are narrow and twisty, There are a few pull through sites for larger rigs.

This is a no reservation park, so get here as close to noon as possible for the best site selection. While there is no check-in time, there is a 12:00pm checkout time. The park was usually full by 3p - 4p. Our rate was with our senior park pass. There are two large, curved pull-thrus right at the entrance. Once in the campground, there is a "front" and "back" section. Do not head for the back section with large rigs. I was comfortable with my 26', but would not want to pull anything much longer around the curves. Those lava rocks are unforgiving! There are a few other large spots right inside the campground entrance. After that, the sites are mostly for mid-sized to small RVs.

We got a curved, pull-thru right across from a bathroom and water spigot. Had a picnic table and grill. No firepits - no fires allowed. You can only pay for one night at time so did it first thing each morning. That way, we did not have to worry about the checkout time.

As there is no dump station, we used the Exxon about 20 miles west of the campground. Around back, there is a free dump station with non-potable and potable water and air hose. There is a 2 stall self wash station with an 11' 10" entry height.

No T-Mobile service in the campground, but we could get 2 bars in Inferno Cone parking lot and full bars at the top of the cone!

We did most of the hikes including the ranger led walk to the Indian Tunnel lava tube. Very informative. The tube hike was sometimes easy / sometimes tough. If you elect to exit at the end instead of turning around, you will be climbing over large piles of lava rock. Not good for anyone with mobility issues.

The laundromat in Arco is gross. Skip it.

If you have an extra day, make the 90 mile trek to Jerome to visit the Minidoka "relocation" camp created after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is one of 10 camps used to house the west coast Japanese. Well done presentation of a darker chapter of America's history.

Thank you Elon for Starlink else I could not stay here. Zut Verizon or Cricket

Great campground, friendly staff. No hookups but potable water available.

The National Monument is so different. The stark, barren countryside is so rugged it’s beautiful

Not that many big rig sites, so pity it’s only fcfs, especially as it is so remote.

Loved the visit

Did not use facilities so cannot comment on them

A very interesting views all around the area. The sits are mostly small. If you have a big rig, get here early. There are not a lot of big sites, and some would be large enough but, a lot are pull throughs that have too much of a curve that make it hard to get into the space. I have also seen very small (tear drops) take up the largest spaces so that leaves even less space for big rigs. I have a 37 foot 5th wheel, it was very tight but I did get in. I arrived before noon, after an hour or two, no big rigs could fit. Lots of spaces for smaller rigs and tent campers.

NOTE to people with smaller rigs, Please... if you can fit into a smaller space then some large one, please leave the large space for the bigger rigs.

I travelled here with a 35’ 5th wheel, long bed pickup and parked in site #12, a PT site close to the bathrooms (no showers) for $7.50/night with an America the Beautiful pass. Road/site was asphalt in good shape. There was one corner in the road that was really tight to get around. I had to back up and approach it a little differently to avoid hitting lava rock along the side of the rig. Sites are each very different and some are nestled in amongst the rock making them quite private. There is no real shade to speak of. Sites have picnic tables and fire pits. Water spigots are located around the CG (not threaded so come with full water tanks.) Totally open sky above for my solar panels. The other really nice thing about this site was the island of rock and trees between the rig and the road giving me a little bit of privacy. No signal of any kind. I did get two bars of Verizon when I went for a hike on one of the volcano cones. I liked this park and would stay there again.

The sites are interspersed with the lava (cold, not hot lava) and make for the perfect setting in the Craters of the Moon National Monument. The campground is located near the entrance to the park and it's a short walk to the visitors center. The campground is first-come first-served and many nights it was full by the end of the day in mid-September. If you have a larger rig, I would recommend arriving early because there aren't more than a dozen spots that will fit a 30+ foot rig. If you are tenting or in a van there are a number of spots designed just for you. There were a lot of one-night visitors while we were there, so plenty of turnover if you arrive early. One odd thing about the arrangement here is that you pay for your site each day. Every morning, if you want to stay another night, you walk over to the camping vending machine and use your credit card to pay for another night. It prints out a slip and you put it on the campsite post. It works well I think and probably helps with the healthy turnover in the campground.

Mobile coverage (AT&T and Verizon) is hit or miss. Some campsites get a signal while others are blocked by the lava (cold, not hot lava). You'll get some signal at the visitors center as well as some areas within the Monument.

Water is scarce here and they ask campers not to fill their fresh tanks from the water spigots (no threads). So if you are coming here, fill with water before your arrival. Also note that there is no dump station in the Monument.

Very well-maintained campground within the national monument. About half the sites accommodate larger vehicles. Most sites are fairly level. Bathrooms very clean. Water in the park (but not for tank fill). Lots of sun to charge solar batteries, Cell service was intermittent - sometimes nothing but other times, up to two bars.
$7.50 per night with senior pass. Can only pay for one night at a time with credit card