Jordan Craters & Coffeepot Crater

Just north of town, the high desert turns black. The Jordan Craters lava field poured out of the earth only a few thousand years ago — a geological eye-blink — and spread across 27 square miles of Owyhee country. It’s so fresh that the ropy, swirled surface of the pahoehoe looks like it stopped moving last week.

Coffeepot Crater

The star of the field is Coffeepot Crater, the vent that fed the whole flow. A short walk from the road’s end takes you up onto the rim, where you can circle the crater, peer down at spatter cones and collapsed lava tubes, and look out over an ocean of frozen black rock with the Owyhee uplands beyond. Give yourself an hour or three — the textures underfoot are half the show.

Getting there

Take US-95 north from Jordan Valley about eight miles, then follow the signed BLM road west to the crater — expect graded gravel and dirt, usually fine for carefully driven passenger cars in dry weather. There are no facilities and no shade anywhere on the flow; carry water, wear real shoes (young lava eats sneakers), and keep an eye on afternoon heat in summer.

It’s the easiest of the Owyhee’s big sights to reach from town — a perfect first-evening or last-morning trip bookending a night in Jordan Valley, and an unforgettable place at sunset.