Legends of the Shoshone Tribe have it that a serpent frightened by lightning coiled around a mountain until liquid rock flowed out of the mass, fire shot from the cracks, and the mountain finally exploded. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, which spans over 1,117 square miles, was established to preserve this “most unusual unearthly lunar landscape” covered with vast lava fields, cinder cones, and lava tubes. Today, the otherworldly landscape is populated with various unique plants and animals that have adapted to life in the extreme. It so resembles the moon that Apollo astronauts used it to detect good rock specimens in an unfamiliar and harsh environment.