Visit the official Hawaii Volcanoes National Park web site.
On the southeastern coast, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is 29 miles southwest of Hilo and 96 miles east of Kailua via Hwy. 11. Established in 1916, the park embraces one of the world's most active volcanic areas.
Hawaiian volcanoes are not the tall conical variety, such as Mount Fuji or Mount St. Helens, nor do they erupt in the mammoth explosions commonly associated with volcanism. The lava in Hawaii, less vicious than that of more violent volcanoes, flows easily and tends to build broad, smooth mountains with shallow summit craters known as calderas. Extrusions begin in the caldera or below the summit along lines of geologic weakness called rift zones.
Lava flows seen in Hawaii are of two basic types: pahoehoe, characterized by a smooth or ropy surface and a'a, with a rough, chunky composition. Often a flow that began as a smooth stream will change as its temperature and gas content lessen and its surface fills with tiny air pockets.
In addition to their periodic fireworks, Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes feature groves of giant ferns, hardwood rain forests and such flora and fauna as ohelo berry bushes and apapane birds.
Today Hawaii Volcanoes National Park displays the results of at least 70 million years of volcanism, migration, and evolution processes that thrust a bare land from the sea and clothed it with complex and unique ecosystems and a distinct human culture. Created to preserve the natural setting of Kilauea and Mauna Loa, the park is also a refuge for the island's native plants and animals and a link to its human past. Research by scientists at the Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory has made Kilauea one of the best understood volcanoes in the world, shedding light on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and the beginning of planet earth.
General information and activities
The park is open daily 24 hours. Chain of Craters Road, the park's main road, begins at the rim of Kilauea Caldera and then winds to the coastal areas. There are no car repair facilities within 21 miles of the park, but gas and oil are available 2 miles from the Kilauea Visitor Center on Hwy. 11.
Marked trails lead to the summit of Mauna Loa and crisscross the park. The park contains several picnic grounds. Temperatures are noticeably cooler at higher elevations. Morning and afternoon showers occur frequently. A jacket or sweater are recommended.
If you plan to hike out to the current lava flow, leave very early and take along plenty of water to drink.