An incredible park to visit and explore - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Written: Jan 16 '08
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Pros: Active volcanoes, Accessible, So much to see, Scenic drives, Lava flows, Craters
Cons: So much to see, which really isn't a con!
The Bottom Line: Don’t miss Hawaii Volcanoes National Park as it really is a one of a kind place
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| jps246's Full Review: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park |
If you are visiting the big island of Hawaii, you have to take the time to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The park is home to two of the world’s most active volcanoes and a host of interesting and unique volcanic features available for you to explore.
You can walk along the edge of Kilauea Crater, hike out across recent lava flows and see an active eruption occurring. Within the park you can experience an active eruption, a giant volcanic caldera, lava tunnels, volcanic craters, lava flows, a tropical jungle, a barren landscape and more. From the waves crashing along the lava cliffs on the shore you travel up through a tropical rainforest towards the barren volcanic areas and then you climb even further to the arctic tundra areas of the summit of Mauna Loa. There’s a whole lot to experience. It’s all amazing and it’s all at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Honestly, no visit to the island of Hawaii is complete without at least a day in this park.
Where is it?
The park is located on the island of Hawaii about 30 miles from the City of Hilo and between 90 to 125 miles from Kailua-Kona (depending on your route). The park encompasses an area that stretches from the southeastern shore of Hawaii upwards to Kilauea Crater and the summit of Mauna Loa and then southwestward along the shoulder of Mauna Loa.
The main highway that travels past the park is Highway 11 and which provides access to the park from Hilo and from Kailua-Kona.
Within the park there are two major roads. The Crater Rim Drive makes a loop around Kilauea Crater while the Chain of Craters Road travels down to the ocean past a number of inactive volcanic craters before reaching the “End of Road” where the lava flows have completely covered the road.
What can you do?
What can’t you do is the better question here.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has a little bit something for everyone. If you don’t like to really get out of the car much and just want to sightsee from the car the two park roadways are spectacular trips even if you never leave the car. For the more adventuresome there are various short walks you can take that let you explore cinder cones, volcanic craters and lava tubes. For the outdoors people, get your hiking boots on because you can really explore the park on a number of different backcountry trails that let you see the results of the park’s volcanic activity close up.
Where do I start?
After you enter the park the first major site you come across is the Visitors Center and the Volcano House. Stop at the Visitors Center to get a map of the park, check out the latest volcano reports and watch a short movie on the park and the islands of Hawaii. Then head over to the Volcano House where you will get your first expansive view of Kilauea Crater. You’ll be blown away by the sheer size and immensity of the crater.
Crater Rim Drive
From the Volcano House your best bet is to get on the Crater Rim Drive and start exploring Kilauea. You’ll come across various viewpoints and points of interest, the first of which will be the steam fields. Here water from underground is heated by the volcanic heat and pours out of various steam vents. It’s really neat to be standing there watching the steam pour out.
You’ll also come to the Jaggar Museum and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. While the Observatory isn’t open to the public, the Museum is and it’s a great introduction to the geologic history of the Hawaiian Islands and the active volcanoes on Hawaii. Not only that, it has probably the best view of Kilauea Crater and the smaller Halema`uma`u Crater which rests inside of Kilauea Crater. You can see sulpher being released along the walls of Halema`uma`u and you can see the other volcanic gases escaping all around it.
Past the museum you come to the Southwest Rift Zone where the island is literally tearing itself apart. This area is an active rifting area along the side of the volcano and is where eruptions frequently occur. You can see recent lava flows and you can look and see how the island is splitting apart here. The area is also directly downwind of Halema`uma`u Crater and the volcanic gases released in that crater do blow through the area so if you have a breathing problem or a heart problem, it’s best to stay in the car with the air conditioner on recirculate here instead of walking around.
Just down the road, you can visit Halema`uma`u Crater with a short walk from the Crater Rim Drive. You’ll be able to look down into the heart of the crater and watch the gases, steam and smoke escape from the ground and the crater walls. You can even feel the heat escaping from the ground.
The road makes its way past several other smaller craters and then ends up at what was probably my favorite stop – the Thurston Lava Tube. Here you can explore a lava tube as it makes its way through the solid ground from an older volcanic crater. The walk isn’t handicapped accessible and does require a bit of climbing but its well worth it. You descend into the crater, then into the lava tube and travel down through the tube until finally emerging once again on the surface where you walk back to the beginning. Not only do you get to explore the tube, this is a good place to explore the tropical jungle as you hike through it on your way back.
Chain of Craters Road
Off the Crater Rim Drive, the Chain of Craters Road follows a line of craters down the flank of the volcano towards the sea. Along the road you’ll be able to explore several more large craters and various lava flows. You’ll get to see where the road was covered in a 1969 lava flow, have the opportunity to hike out and get a view of the active Pu`u `O`o vent area and then at the end of the road, which was blocked by a 2003 lava flow, have a chance to observe lava entering the ocean. That last part is a big maybe though as the flow that had gone into the ocean for years changed in the fall of 2007 such that it was no longer flowing towards the ocean, but into the rain forest. However, things do change rapidly on Hawaii, so in the future it’s likely the lava will once again flow down to the water.
Probably the most interesting areas are near and at the end of the road and also the Napau Trail trailhead. At the end of the road you can walk across the recent lava flows and observe the ocean wearing away at the lava (be careful, portions of the lava cliffs have collapsed quite suddenly) and just before the end of the road you can explore a petroglyph field where the ancient Hawaiians left various carvings. From the Napau Trail trailhead you can see where the original Chain of Craters Road was covered by the 1969 lava flows from the Mauna Ulu crater. You can also hike out to Pu'u Huluhulu, where you can get a view of the active eruptions at the Pu`u `O`o vent area several miles away. As of the fall of 2007, Pu'u Huluhulu was the only place you could view the Pu`u `O`o vent without taking a helicopter tour.
Services
It’s best to plan ahead when you are in Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park as there are limited services in the park. While restrooms are available throughout the park at various stops along the Crater Rim Drive and Chain of Craters Road, food is only available at the Volcano House and gas is only available outside of the park in the village of Volcano, which is located just outside the park off of Route 11.
The Volcano House has two places to eat – a cafeteria like restaurant and a more formal restaurant. Both have dining rooms that look out across Kilauea Crater. We ate at both and while they are both pricey, the view is nice and especially at the nicer restaurant, the food quality is quite good.
The only lodging inside the park is at the Volcano House. This is run by a private company and reservations are required ahead of time. I didn’t actually go into the hotel portion of the Volcano House, but it didn’t seem all that fancy – I would tend to think it’s a fairly basic kind of room that you’d get.
There are several campgrounds in the park but they are all fairly primitive tent campgrounds that are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Experiences
We spent almost two full days exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The first day we entered the park, went to the Visitors Center and the Volcano House and then made our way around the Crater Rim Drive and the Chain of Craters Road. We pretty much stopped at every point of interest and on the Chain of Craters Road we walked out to where you would have been able to see the lava entering the ocean. Unfortunately for us, about 2 months before we arrived, the lava had changed direction on the flank of the volcano.
I really enjoyed walking out to Halema`uma`u Crater. From the viewpoint we could see down into the crater and saw the smoke and gas rising up from the various vents on the crater walls and floor. I also really enjoyed the trip through the lava tube. It really isn’t much more than a cave, but to consider it was full of molten lava at one point was very interesting.
On our second day there we went to the Napau Trail trailhead where we hiked out to Pu'u Huluhulu so that we could see the eruption at the Pu`u `O`o vent. The hike was about a mile and a half in each direction and was a moderate hike, nothing too strenuous. The trail travels across fairly recent lava flows and it’s interesting to see the various lava formations as you make your way to the summit of Pu'u Huluhulu. The trail beyond Pu'u Huluhulu is currently closed due to eruption activity and ground cracking between Pu'u Huluhulu and the Pu`u `O`o vent. We did wander a bit around the Mauna Ulu lava shield though exploring the vast lava field.
After that we returned to the Volcano House through a passing shower and then decided to head around the Crater Rim Drive once again. Since it had rained, the steam fields were producing tons of steam – it almost looked like fog and when we arrived at Halema`uma`u Crater steam was rising from almost everywhere inside the crater and on the floor of Kilauea Crater.
From there we went back to the Volcano House where we had dinner at their restaurant as we overlooked Kilauea Crater. It was a wonderful meal and a great experience.
Final Thoughts
If you are on the island of Hawaii, you really can’t make up any sort of excuse not to go to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This park is simply amazing. You can view active volcanoes, walk over recent lava flows and gaze into deep volcanic craters. You can even travel through a lava tube that used to funnel molten magma from the heart of the volcanic crater!
The park is big but the two main drives do make it very accessible for everyone and provide a great stepping off point for those who want to explore the park more fully. I would highly recommend at least one full day to explore the park and even more if you want to go hiking and exploring.
Don’t miss Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, it really is a one of a kind place.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: Anytime
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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