Picnic on the Moon: Craters of the Moon National Monument
Idaho’s lava fields with five kids — the caves, the cinder cones and the strangest picnic spot on a cross-country drive.
Half a Park, Fully Worth It: Lassen Volcanic
Lassen Volcanic with half the park under spring snow — a volcano rising over northern California, the hydrothermal basins, and what’s actually open early.
Floor’s Lava! Lava Beds National Monument
Lava tube caves you explore on your own in far northern California — flashlights, no timed tickets, and five kids underground at the best cave stop of our trip.
Snowballs in the Lava Fields: A Day at Sunset Crater
Snow tucked between fields of black basalt at Sunset Crater — the Arizona volcano that erupted in 1085 — on a short, steep trail near Flagstaff with five kids.
A Near Miss on the Lava Tubes: Mojave National Preserve
‘No services next 100 miles’ — the empty, almost unnatural quiet of Mojave National Preserve, California’s high desert crossed with five kids and a full tank.