Lava Flow Campground

After the immensely BORING road trip from West Yellowstone along US-20, it was very nice to arrive around 4:30pm on a Monday in mid July to this clean and comfortable campground! Set amongst the lava rocks of the Craters of the Moon NM (with hiking trail access right from the CG!), we stayed 2 nights here because we actually got cell service (slow though) after over a week without it! Plus, it’s just hard to leave this place as it is SO other-worldly! They trained the Apollo astronauts near here I understand, b/c they thought it reflected a lunar landscape. I also heard the Visitors Center (which WAS open during the Covid-19 pandemic when we were there!) is incredible -- especially if you are into the moon or space! But with the pandemic, we chose to not go in.

We stayed the 1st night in Site 21, and the 2nd night in Site 31. We loved both, but preferred 31 (it’s in a cute little private loop, along with Sites 29 & 30) and it was less sunny mid July on our rig. This CG is literally right off US-20, so zero access issues and the lower loop is big rig friendly. We stayed in the upper loop as we’re a mid-sized rig.

Make sure to watch for the sign leading into the upper loops that clearly state that it is not intended for bigger rigs! This CG is a mix of tent, mid-size, and large rig sites. We noticed that quite a few tent campers were taking up the pull-through sites that were obviously intended for rigs. Annoying. As stated, we arrived on a Monday early evening (4-4:30) and the CG was about half full already! So plan on getting here early, EVEN if arriving on a weekday!

This campground is great for kids! Not only would the visitors center be great, but also the hiking AND the CG itself if very conducive to kiddos riding their bikes around, as it is very smooth asphalt and as long as they aren’t going too fast and accompanied by a parent, super fun for kiddos to ride their bikes around. There are bat caves, but PLEASE NOTE: during our visit mid July 2020, both the main trail AND the bat caves were closed. Actually looked like it was less Covid-19 related, more upgrading/construction work going on, but not sure. ALSO of importance is - at the time of our stay July 2020 - you could NOT access the trails via the CG unless you walked along the drivable scenic loop, which my hubby said was sketchy at best. He was bummed out that he couldn’t utilize the boardwalks while we were there. Hopefully they’ll open those back up sooner rather than later.

Regarding checking in, it is totally done with an automated machine, and IF you intend on staying more than one night, you MUST walk down and re-register for your site, (or, as we did, move to another confirmed-empty site). The entrance provides all the information you need and the receipt should also be read so you follow policy and procedure correctly! We noticed quite a few fellow campers unaware that they needed to look in the post/receipt window at each site to see if it was already taken or not! And as you can read from other reviews, it could cause a CG ruckus if you don’t do so!

Finally, as one other reviewer noted, it is important to tread on the landscape as little as possible around the campground. We had to a little in order for our two dogs to potty, but we were respectful of the plant life growing out of the lava rock. We would absolutely stay here again!

Pay attention to the signage... the upper sites are for smaller rigs and travel trailers. It really is designed for smaller setups. The unique thing about staying here is the access to the driving loop and the hikes in Craters of the Moon and the whole area is lava rocks. Stay on the paths, the ecosystem is fragile and walking off path destroys and damages it.

There are many reviews here already, so I'll just add a few cautionary notes. This campground is extremely popular, but there are few sites for RVs bigger than a small Class C, so with a trailer, 5th wheel or Class A, you need to arrive early to get a space. Most back-in sites are short and uphill. There are a few pull-throughs, but most are tightly curved. Pull-through site 14 was just adequate for my truck and 21 ft trailer. It sloped down hill, but needed only 1 block laterally.

I arrived at 1 pm on a Friday, there was a line of RVs at the entrance kiosk, and the campground was already fairly full. Throughout the afternoon and early evening, a steady stream of RVs came in and drove around the campground, often twice, before departing again without finding a site. The kiosk was manned, yet they continued to let people in with large rigs that clearly were not going to be able to stay! They did not take payment at the kiosk. You have to pay every day at a self-pay terminal opposite the entrance.

Bring a coconut door mat to catch the volcanic grit. Otherwise, it gets everywhere indoors, and it's abrasive for linoleum.

My $7.50 rate reflected a 50% discount with my senior pass.

I had expectations, from a previous review, of being tucked away in the lava flows, private and hidden from your neighbors. It is not that. It is stunning, either way, and you can’t blame the campgrounds designers for wanting to limit the amount of this peculiar black rock from being destroyed as they planned the multitude of sites that comprise the three loops or so that are this place.

A ranger talk opened my eyes to something new here as well: a national monument is not necessarily any less impressive than a national park. They’re simply two different “nationals” named based on the law used to establish them. We visited Great Basin a few days prior, and while it’s beautiful, the only truly impressive thing they have which can’t be seen across all of Nevada are the Lehman Caves...and that began as a national monument. If you’ve ever been to Organpipe NM or come here to Craters of the Moon, and then think about the arch in St. Louis or the Cuyahoga River...well, it begins to make sense that it’s the establishing legislature, not the actual impressiveness of the thing being commemorated, which decides what type of “national” it is.

Of note here, registration. This is one of few places where it’s your tag on the site’s post, not leaving behind your gear, that determines whether a site is empty or not. This was not explained to us when entering the campground, and resulted in us requiring a good deal of patience when a mixup occurred with a man who was less than interested in peaceful negotiations. I’d still advise you leave something at your site, possession being 9/10ths if the law and all, and was the deciding victory for us in this particular campground mediation.

Beauty being in the eye of the beholder and all, as high desert parks go, Craters of the Moon is out of this world, and this campground puts you directly within its glory.

My only real negative is that there are a bajillion and 3.5 flies here, it’s a bit overwhelming. A ranger agreed that adding flyswatters to the visitor center store would make the park some 2.6 trillion dollars an hour.

They also really like to talk about the moon here, so if you like the moon but don’t know rudimentary facts about it, this place will really be for you.

Milky Way was in full effect.

Lava Flow campground is a quirky little campground, but it is by far the best place to camp to explore Craters of the Moon National Monument. You are within walking distance of the very informative Visitor’s Center. Sites vary widely in size and quality. We arrived early on a Friday and lucked into space #42 a long, level back-in site near the bathroom. There are maybe a dozen sites that will accommodate larger rigs, a few that are only good for tent/car campers, with the remainder falling somewhere in the middle.

The entire campground is first come/first serve so plan on arriving early if possible. The campground was full by late afternoon every day during our stay. The sites are $15 and you must self-pay at a kiosk with credit card (no cash/checks accepted). You can also only pay for one night at a time, so make sure to renew before heading out to explore the park. We did not see a map of the campground posted anywhere and it would have been extremely helpful. The sites are tucked in and around the natural volcanic rock formations. There are also a couple huge pull-through sites located on the opposite side of the road from the main campground. It’s hard to tell they are even campsites and we saw folks circle the campground and leave when they were empty.

Recycling is located across the road from the main campground, garbage is centrally located about the middle of the main campground. There are bathrooms (both flush and pit toilets), but no showers. Each campsite has a picnic table and grill, no ground/wood fires are permitted.

We had one bar of Verizon 1X which pretty much amounted to no cell service at our campsite. However, if we walked higher in the campground we did manage to get enough coverage to send/receive texts.

The landscape is otherworldly, which is really cool. The camp site’s are spacious and blend in well with the landscape. There are fresh water spigots throughout the campground, and plenty of trash receptacles. The bathrooms are sizable and clean. If you want/need cell signal or WiFi you might struggle. The campground does not offer WiFi and the cell signal is nearly nonexistent. We were able to use our AT&T Nighthawk and $30 MIMO antenna to get 10-15 mbps download speed but almost no upload.

Beautiful placement and layout of the campsites so they feel like they are a part of this unique landscape. Staying here is all about location and it is a gorgious one. Centralized water spigots are spread out throughout the campground. Bathrooms are spacious and clean, but lack of showers is a bummer.

Verizon 1-bar of 3G but even boosted with a WeBoost we found that it was useless.
LTE is available farther into the park but not at the campground or visitor center.

This isn't a large or spaced out campground but it is super convenient for seeing the park and getting the most out of your Craters experience. It is a short walk from the visitor's center and I highly recommend watching their 15 minute video about the park - very informative!

It is dry camping, the sites are paved and mine was level enough that I didn't need blocks. The sites when you first enter are larger than the ones further in. There are some pull-thrus (like 15).

My AT&T service was almost non-existent. Every once in a while I would get 1 bar, but I wouldn't count on it.

The bathrooms were clean but I didn't see any showers. The campground is also fairly close to the entrance road so it isn't as quiet as it could be if it were nestled further in the park. It fills up early so try to get there as close to check-out (12pm) as you can to grab a spot in the busy summer months.

I paid $7.50 with my Access pass, regular price is $15 during the summer months.