Menan Buttes

Hikes: D.
Total Distance, D: 2 miles.
Difficulty: Level II.
Season: Yeararound.
USGS Map: Menan Buttes.
BLM 100K Map: *Rexburg.
Dirt Road Miles: 3/4 gravel, 1/4 good dirt.
PLSS Location: Section 10, T5N R38E.

Introduction: The Menan Buttes serve as a good indicator of how much there is to see in Idaho's desert. From nearby roads they appear slightly more interesting than other buttes--mainly because they make such an evenly matched pair. But once you're climbing one and observing its features at close range, you realize they are much steeper and more interesting than they appear. The south butte is privately owned.
  The north butte, where this hike takes you, is BLM land, and has earned a National Natural Landmark designation. Why a national landmark? Mainly because of the near-perfect form shared by the two 10,000 year old buttes. Generations of geography students have charted their cross sectional views, learning to read topographic maps while seeing the impact of prevailing winds that blew more cinders to the northeast sides. The ejecta here was blown especially high because the eruption took place under and through the water soaked Snake River plain.
  The butte was closed to motor vehicles many years ago. However, illegal trail bike use continues.

The Hike: Start up the road, and you'll quickly see just how steep the buttes really are. Watch for a deep gully to the left, and observe the layered deposits of volcanic ash and cinders. These layers, which mark individual eruptions, are thicker on the downwind side of the butte. When the road cuts to the right, scramble straight up the slope. The rock here is stable and offers good footing.
  Once you reach the crater rim, take a full minute to locate yourself. You'll want to descend to your car from this area, and this entire stretch of the rim all looks very much the same.
  The "wilderness" rim area is to your left, the developed area to the right. Climb to your left, following cracks in the crest of the rim. You soon come to an area of red rock which resembles baked mud, but with larger rocks (xenoliths) embedded. Some of these are basalt, some granite. The granitic ones were in river gravels transported from the Tetons, only to meet the unlikely fate of being carried to the surface in a matrix of lava.
  This area has been eroded into unusual formations by swirling winds. It is called the Wind Bowl. Climb the Wind Bowl's right (north) side to the summit. On a good day you can see most of the Eastern Snake River Plain. From here, continue clockwise along the rim, until you cross the old road and enter rugged rock. The best route through this area stays just inside the rim and below the cliffs, in sheltered vegetation.
  When the rough stretch ends, climb to the electronics area. The Butte's high point offers the best views of the meandering courses of Henrys Fork and the Snake. Their confluence, just below the south butte, was undoubtedly moved because of Nature's decision to have two buttes erupt here!
  Descend along the road to the low point on the rim, passing a road that leads into the crater. Grazing is prohibited on this butte, so the crater offers excellent condition range. Don't descend from the low point on the rim you must climb along the rim a bit before you are above your car. On the way down, exercise caution it's more difficult to descend than to climb.

Access: Turn north on 400W from 350N. This point is 1/2 mile east of the Menan Market and Co-op, and 6 miles west of the Menan/Lorenzo exit off US-20 (just south of the Snake River bridge). Go 3 1/2 miles north on 400W and turn right on a gravel road (W1) that climbs between the two buttes. After 3/4 mile turn left on a surprisingly good (though steep) dirt road. This climbs 1/4 mile up the butte to a parking area, the trailhead.