This moment outdoors is brought to you by L.L. Bean, official partner of the National Parks Foundation for the Find Your Park Movement. I'm going to see. 50 years ago in 1969, NASA sent astronauts to a remote location in

southern Idaho. Their goal to learn basic geology and study the local relatively recent

volcanic features located there in preparation for potential missions to the

Moon. for potential missions to the moon.

In the midst of flat plains and agricultural fields,

lies the Great Rift.

It's a series of fractures and deep cracks that start near the Snake River and stretch 52 miles

to the northwest.

15,000 years ago, lava erupted from these fishers, sending molten rock burning across the landscape.

The lava continued to erupt over the course of nearly 13,000 years, growing to cover 618 square miles.

I'm Jason Epperson, and on this episode of America's National Parks, Craters of the Moon National Monument. More than 200,000 people visit this remote park every year for its unique volcanic and geological features.

Features that have not yet been weathered, eroded, or grown over by vegetation.

Though the lava wasn't always solid rock as it is today,

humans have had a long history in this area.

People first inhabited the Snake River Plains between 12 and 14,000 years ago.

They were members of the Shoshone and Banach tribes and their ancestors.

Members from both tribes lived in this area together,

traveling, hunting, and mixing often.

In the summer, these humans lived in smaller semi-nomadic groups of a few families as opposed

to a highly structured tribe. Horses acquired in the 1700s allowed them to hunt

further away from home near present-day Montana and Wyoming. Archaeological

sites in the area include tools, hunting blinds, and rock shelters.

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