Menan Buttes — Twin Volcanic Tuff Cones Viewpoint

The Menan Buttes are a pair of hydrovolcanic tuff rings formed when rising basalt magma hit the Snake River and flash-vaporized it — the result is two steep-sided craters that look completely out of place on the flat river plain. The larger North Menan Butte is a BLM-managed natural area with a trail to the rim. From the top you get a sweeping 360-degree view of the upper Snake River Plain, the Tetons on the horizon to the northeast, and the agricultural patchwork below. It’s the kind of geological feature overlanders rolling east toward Yellowstone or south toward the lava fields stop for once and remember for years.

Access to the trailhead is via paved and gravel roads off US-20 north of Rexburg. High-clearance is not required to reach the base. The trail to the rim is steep and loose — about a mile each way. No developed facilities beyond a small BLM parking area. Best light is early morning with the Tetons catching alpenglow to the east.

Hydrovolcanic tuff cones on the Snake River plain.