A Tremendous View & Educational Museum - Jaggar Museum - Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
Written: Dec 11 '07 (Updated Dec 11 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tremendous view, Easy-to-reach, Chance to see Nene, Science/natural history of volcanoes
Cons: Crowded, Museum might be too basic for some
The Bottom Line: If you are in Volcanoes National Park, you should make a stop at the Jaggar Museum, even if it’s only to get out and take in the view
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| jps246's Full Review: Jagger Museum, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park |
If you are visiting Volcanoes National Park on the big island of Hawaii, one stop on the Crater Rim Drive that you have to make is at the Jaggar Museum, which is also home to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
While the Observatory isn’t open to the public, the Jaggar Museum provides visitors a chance to more deeply understand the volcanic spectacle in front of them in Kilauea Crater and Halema`uma`u Crater. While today they are relatively quiet, these craters have been home to eruptions and lakes of lava.
Where is the Jaggar Museum?
Located on the Crater Rim Drive in Volcanoes National Park, the Jaggar Museum is about a 10 minute drive from the entrance to the park and the Visitors Center. It can also be reached when traveling in the opposite direction on Crater Rim Drive. In that case, it’s about 40 minutes or so from the entrance to the park.
There is ample parking at the Jaggar Museum, though it is one of the most popular stops on the Drive, so expect to spend more time finding a parking spot than some other spots along the Drive. This is also a popular stop with bus tours, so there are often quite a few buses in the parking lot.
The Park Service has also put up signs warning of Nene that may congregate near the parking lot. These are the very endangered Hawaiian Geese and you really wouldn’t want to hit one, as there are only about 500 or so on the island.
Since you are in the park, parking and admission into the museum are free.
What’s there
Most importantly, the Jaggar Museum is probably home to the best view of Kilauea and Halema`uma`u Craters. The Museum is located on the highest portion of the Kilauea Crater wall and it has an unobstructed view across all of Kilauea and down into Halema`uma`u Crater (Halema`uma`u is a crater inside of Kilauea Crater). Not only is it home to the best view, that view can be seen both outside, but also inside the museum when the weather may not be quite so hospitable.
Besides the view (which believe me, you will spend plenty of time taking in), the Jaggar Museum focuses on the science of volcanology and more specifically the Hawaiian volcanoes themselves. Besides your typical dioramas and exhibits, the museum also has a number of different pieces of equipment that have been used by volcanologists throughout the years (most of the gear is older, as the newest equipment is being used in the Observatory). There is a working seismograph so you can see how the ground on the volcano is shaking. In addition, there’s an exhibit on the clothing and protective gear scientists wear to get close to the volcano.
For those who want to take a memento home, the Jaggar Museum also has a gift shop. They have a fairly decent selection of books and maps for the Park and the volcano. I managed to snag a couple of geology books and some geologic maps of the crater and the island.
Experiences
As someone with a geology background, I think I was slightly disappointed by the exhibits and displays in the museum and that’s mostly because I was expecting something a little more in-depth and exploratory. I already understood the basics ideas behind the Hawaiian volcanoes along with volcanism in general, but this museum really is for people who have little to no knowledge of volcanoes.
In that case, the exhibits and displays can be very interesting, as evidenced by my Mom and numerous other visitors who were fascinated by natural history of the island and the volcanoes.
Instead of the exhibits, I spent most of my time on the outdoor patio overlooking the craters and in the gift shop, going through the various Hawaiian geology books and maps. The view itself was tremendous. You could see right down into Halema`uma`u Crater where sulfur and other volcanic gases were coming out of the crater walls. Not only that, you could take in the entire expanse of Kilauea Crater, which is just tremendous.
I’m glad I stopped, the view alone is worth a visit to the Jaggar Museum. However I think for those of us who didn’t have the scientific and geologic background that I did, the stop was even more meaningful because they were able to learn about and better understand what was happening beneath the ground that they were walking on.
Final Thoughts
If you are in Volcanoes National Park, you should make a stop at the Jaggar Museum, even if it’s only to get out and take in the view from the museum. However, the museum itself is not to be missed either, as it does provide plenty of information in an easy-to-understand way for people who may not be familiar with the science and natural history behind the Hawaiian volcanoes.
This is definitely a must-do stop for anyone on the Crater Rim Drive in the park.
Thanks to SurgRN911 for adding this to the database. My mistake on the title though when I requested this be added - the correct spelling for the museum is the Jaggar Museum, not Jagger
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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