Visiting Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Want to get up close and personal with one of nature’s most powerful forces? If so, I recommend visiting Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, located on Hawaii’s Big Island. This national park is home to two volcanoes, Maunaloa and Kilauea. Kilauea is considered on of the most active volcanoes on Earth. Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is a huge park that covers roughly 335,259 acres. There are 150 miles of hiking trails within the park. Not up for a hike? Volcanoes National Park has lava fields as far as the eyes can see, lava tubes worth exploring, scenic drives, and breathtaking views of the volcanoes and surrounding areas.
It is easy to get around the Big Island of Hawaii, after all, there are only a few road options. Getting to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is pretty straight forward. It is a 40-50 minute drive from Hilo along Highway 11. The National Park is further from Kona, it’s 95 miles on Highway 11 and the drive can take anywhere from 2 to 2.5 hours.
From Hilo – Head southwest on Highway 11 for 30 miles
From Kona – Head Southwest on Highway 11 for about 95 miles.
The only way to get here is by driving. We rented a car and drove from the town of Hilo. I’m sure there are day trips to stop at Volcanoes National Park, but it is recommended to drive a personal vehicle. This way you can explore the park at your own pace.
About Volcanoes National Park
Park Hours
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is open 24/7, year round, to include holidays. The visitors centers and perhaps other amenities within the park do have specific hours. I recommend viewing the National Parks Service website for more information on opening hours and park alerts.
Admission
Like other National Parks throughout the United States, there is a fee to enter the park. The fee is usually per vehicle and good for 7 days.
According to the National Park Service Website, below are the entrance fees.
$30 for private non-commercial vehicles
$25 for motorcycles
$15 for bicycles or pedestrians
More About Volcanoes National Park
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park became a National Park in 1916. Within the park, you can literally see where new land has been made by lava flow. There are sites within the park like the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs that show proof of earlier inhabitants utilizing the land, and while exploring the park, visitors can see unique ecosystems. This National Park is unlike any others.
The two volcanoes within the park are Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Kilauea is considered the most active volcano in the world. The last time Mauna Loa erupted was in 1984 and Kilauea erupts constantly.
Mauna Loa means “Long Mountain” in Hawaiian and is considered an active Shield Volcano. Remember from Geology Class? A shield volcano is generally a very large and broad volcano. In a way, they do resemble a shield. The 1984 eruption was so powerful in almost reached the town of Hilo.
Kilauea, considered Earth’s most active volcano last erupted on September 29, 2021. Kilauea has a caldera that was formed when the volcanoes summit collapsed. Kilauea is home to the Hawaiian goddess Pele, who is a goddess of fire and volcanoes.
Things to Do and See at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Stop by the Visitor Center
When Visiting Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, make sure to stop by the Kilauea Visitor Center to check out some of the displays, read more into the park, and purchase a souvenir if that is your thing. The visitor center is conveniently located by Crater Rim Drive, and Crater Rim Trail. There are also bathroom facilities on the grounds and plenty of parking spaces available.
Although the National Park is open 24/7, the visitor center is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Walk the Crater Rim Trail to the Overlook
There are several trail networks around the park. In fact, there are 150 miles of trails here. You could spend weeks hiking here, but most visitors only come for a day or two. Right off the bat, I recommend doing the Crater Rim Trail. This trail is accessible directly across the street from the Kilauea Visitor Center. It’s an easy paved trail that reaches an overlook where you get great views of the crater at Kilauea. This is also one of the best places to view the lave glow at night. After the overlook, we turned back around toward the visitor center. If you are feeling adventurous, you can continue along the trail or take another path and see where that leads you.
Uekahuna, Kilauea Summit Overlook
A quick stop at the overlook by the old Jaggar Museum is kind of the end of the line along the Crater Rim Drive. The road is closed at this point, the museum is closed, but the parking lot is still open. Apparently, the Jaggar Museum used to be well worth a visit. Unfortunately, in 2018 Kilauea erupted and earthquakes damaged the building. From the outside, the museum looks just fine, but the inside is unsafe. Staff managed to save all the important displays within the museum thankfully.
It’s still worth a quick visit to the area to see a different view point of the crater. There is a short trail (Kau Desert Trail) that offers views of the crater. Bring a light jacket, as it was windy and chilly when we were here.
Stop at the Steam Vents
A quick stop either before or after the Kilauea Summit Overlook are the steam vents. There was abundant parking at the steam vents with trails all over the place. We walked a short trail and got another glimpse of the crater from here.
Walking around the steam vents, there are many areas where you can see the steam rising from the ground. In some places the steam is actually pretty hot. This area consists of primarily low lying shrubs because long roots from trees cannot withstand the heat. Seeing the steam rise from the ground and flow over the cliffs into the crater is truly a site to behold.
Walk Through Thurston Lava Tube
Thurston Lava Tube is a 500 year old lava tube located in the middle of a rainforest. There is a parking lot here, it’s a quick hike through the jungle to get to the entrance. The trail makes a nice round trip loop. Since Thurston Lava Tube is located in the rainforest the trail can be wet and slippery, so appropriate clothing and shoe wear is required.
Lava tubes are basically caves that formed due to the cooling of lava flows. For a way better explanation on how lava tubes form and are created, I recommend further reading on Lava Tubes by the National Park Services.
Drive the Chain of Craters Road and Stop at some of the old Lava Fields
One of my favorite drives within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is the Chain of Craters Road. This road is nearly 19 miles in length beginning at the Kilauea Visitor Center and ending at the turn around point near the Holei Sea Arch.
There are several stops worth exploring along the Chain of Craters Road. There are many pull offs where you can exit the vehicle and walk on the old lava flow. There are some locations where you can see old lava fields as far as the eye can see.
Hike to the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs
One attraction along the Chain of Craters Road that we did was a stop at the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs. My family and I absolutely love archaeology and learning about earlier humans. We were all very interested in seeing the petroglyphs and learning a little bit more of the people that called the area home.
This site has over 23,000 petroglyphs. Most of the petroglyphs appeared to be circles carved in the rocks but there were also more creative and in depth petroglyphs representing humans and other features.
To get to the petroglyphs there is a 1.4 mile roundtrip hike. The hike was mostly flat with rocks but for the most part it was an easy hike. The portion of the hike at the end where the petroglyphs are is on a boardwalk to make sure visitors are preserving the delicate petroglyphs and not destroying them by walking all over the rock face.
View the Lava Glow at Night
Perhaps my favorite part of visiting Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park was seeing the lava glow at night. Lava glow is visible from the crater when molten lava is present. I’m still not sure why you can only see the lava at night and not during the day. Either way, it was highly recommended for us to do and we are glad we stayed around until night fall to witness this event.
There are many places to watch the lava glow, but we went back to the overlook along the Crater Rim Trail. We were able to see the lava glow under the starry night sky. The night sky here was stunning, perhaps one of the prettiest and most starry skies I’ve seen.
A tip I was told by a park ranger is to view the lava glow a bit later, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after sunset. Why? Because many people drive down for the day from Kona. Since Kona is quite a ways away, visitors will only stay at the overlook a few minutes after sunset before packing out. By waiting that extra 30 minutes or longer, you will avoid the crowd since everyone will be making that 2 hour drive back to Kona.
Below are a few close up photos of what the old lava flow looks like today.
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