Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Accomplished one thing on my bucket list. Seeing the volcano and the steam vents were amazing. Even though it was not erupted, I’m still satisfied. This was the most amazing hiking ever. This national park was beautiful with different lava formation all over the park. I just can’t believe my eyes. I’m so glad I was able to take this opportunity to explore the park. One of the unforgettable moments.

This unforgettable and wonderful hike was the highlight of my stay on the Hawaii island: getting so close from the lava tube that the sole of my black sneakers melted, the breath-​taking views, etc.
This is truly a must do if you were to be around.

Loved it! I would totally recommend seeing it at night. The colors are so vibrant. I feel you can truly appreciate the site more. It reminds us that we are not invincible in this world. Make sure to bring a jacket and flash light to enjoy the hike.

So you guys, I got my mind completely blown today. I’ve been a total volcano geek my entire life, and have been patiently waiting all these years to visit Hawaii and see the devastation up-​close-​and-​personally.
I dragged my husband along with me today, albeit not grudgingly (but not thrilled either), and I think he got his mind blown even more than I did! I’ve watched a million volcano videos in my life, documentaries galore and drooled over pictures from every source I could find. My husband had ZERO interest whatsoever and I think that’s why he was even more blown away than I was by what he saw at the national park today.
The biggest impact of this place for us was probably along the Chain of Craters Road, a few minutes past the Thurston Lava Tubes. There’s a small sign that reads something about the «1979» lava flow that wiped out all that land. PULL OVER and GET OUT OF YOUR CAR. Go walk amidst the lava. Take a close look at the lava and feel how lightweight it is (but don’t break anything!). Check out the flowers and bushes growing in the lava — it’s really remarkable given that it’s a totally barren wasteland otherwise. And the devastation just goes on and on and on for miles.
The Thurston Lava Tube is a quick pit stop that’ll take you maybe 10 minutes total, and worth the trip. We were lucky (on a Friday midday) that there were only a handful of other people in the tube with us. I’ve seen other peoples’ pictures that showed it being very crowded.
Carry on along Chain of Craters Road down to the very bottom (it’s a 40-​minute-​ish drive in each direction) so you can check out the Hōlei Sea Arch. It’s crazy beautiful and the waves crash against the shore nonstop (way down below from where you’re standing) and it’s really quite something. Also, it’s quite hot down there comparatively to up higher on the drive (you go from something like 4,000 feet elevation to 1,500 at this point, but don’t quote me on those numbers).
We opted to skip over the Jaggar Museum today (where you can see the glow of the molten lava), and will instead return again after sunset another day so we can really see it glowing. You don’t see nearly as much during the day; rather, you get to see a plume of volcanic gas, which we’ll be seeing in a few days when we do the flight over the volcano by helicopter anyway.
The fee to enter the park is $ 15 and your entry is valid for 7 days, which is totally awesome if you plan to return a second time. I read over & over that you should really visit this park twice — during the day, and after sunset. I don’t particularly like the idea of driving 2 hours back to Kona in the dark, but I think it’ll be worthwhile.
Seriously, don’t overlook this spot. Especially if your travel companion isn’t keen on it (like mine was) because I guarantee you’ll all be crazy impressed by this place. Other than the specifics above, the drive itself is stunningly beautiful — amazing views of the ocean, the lava, the mountains, etc… You just can’t go wrong with spending a few hours here! We, by the way, spent from 12pm-​3pm here and it was perfect.

I can’t say that I understand the appeal of this park. I like national parks — big fan of Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Arches, Zion, and City of Rocks (okay, it’s a National Reserve, not a park). But this is just not that different than the rest of the world on the island. You drive through narrow, twisting roads surrounded by lush greenery (much most of Hwy 11), and you pass over some old lava flows (i.e. black, wavy rock). There are some hikes where you get to walk through — wait for it — more of the same. There is a 150m (ish?) lava tube that will require 15 minutes of your time, and a small collection of old rock (lava rock!) scratchings that are worth just about the 0.7 miles you have to walk from the road to reach them (though probably not the 20+ minutes drive you make into the park). And for the grand finale, at sunset you can look at a glowing light 1 mile away — that’s warm lava in its crater. There are old craters to see, but they all look a lot like small quarries.
The park is A-​ok because it’s ours, the staff are nice, and it’s nature. But if you’re putting on the list of interesting places to go, this falls near the bottom of my list. If you’re on the island and tired of the water or if you love volcanoes, sure you might find it a nice change of pace from the standard ocean-​based Hawaii fare. Would anyone in their right mind come to the Big Island exclusively to see this National Park? I surely hope not.

Volcano National Park is a must see destination on the Big Island. It’s worth the trek no matter where you stay on the island and has many things to do and see for everyone! What you can see, though, is highly variable. A few weeks before we went in the summer of 2015, activity at Halemaumau Crater was really picking up. Lava was even visible at the summit crater! However, by the time we arrived, the activity had died down again and all that could be seen was a glow. If activity gets too intense, however, areas may be closed off, so be sure to check the National Park Services website or with park rangers for advisories and closures.
On our visit, the wife and I checked out Halemaumau Crater during the day and night, took a stroll on the Devastation Trail, saw the petroglyphs at Pu’uloa, and went down to the ocean side of the park. We only had a day, so our time was really compressed. Ideally you’d have at least a few days to explore the park, especially if you like hiking. But in the short time we had we did get to see a variety of things. Aside from the previous listed sites, we also got to see some native Hawaiian Honeycreepers, some Nene geese, the Ho’olei Sea Arch, and green sea turtles.
If you do visit, be sure to dress appropriately. Layering is key as lower elevations can be very hot and humid, while upper elevations can be quite cold. The weather has a tendency to change really quickly too, going from sunny, to rainy, to sunny again in a matter of minutes.
I’d definitely return again, though next time, I’d like to spend at least a few nights in the park.

It is always fun getting back to nature. Visiting during high season takes some patience.
The lines and crowds were like Disneyland bad.
The line of cars to get in extended out the main gate to the highway. Our walk through the Thurston lava tube was like circus elephants nose to tail crowded.
It is a gorgeous place to visit but next time it will be during the low season.
Junior Ranger kits are available at the desk for kids.

I loved visiting this national park!
Take it from someone who wasn’t planning on going here, because I thought it might have been too touristy to do. My mistake, because this was the highlight of my trip! They have done a great job of paving roads to make it easy to drive around the park, so you can easily get to all parts of the park.
The drive takes you right to the destinations and overlook points. And to the hiking trail heads if you want to put on your hiking shoes. There are large shoulders on the sides of the road that indicate that it’s a good place for you to park your car for a moment to take some pictures.
I started at the visitor center, where you can pick up a good map that lays out all of your stopping points along Crater Rim Drive. Then I visited Jagger museum. Go here because this is where you get the best view of the active volcano, Kiluaea. Then you can stop by the steam vents, more craters, and then lava fields. The lava has hardened, so you could even walk on it. What an experience!
Then towards the end of the road, you drive higher to viewpoints where you can see the ocean meet the land. It is so beautiful. I took so many photographs at this national park, so make sure you have enough storage for your snapshots!

I did the hike through the crater, takes about 3 hours. Easy and beautiful walk.
I recommend hiking boots as there are some rocks to climb.
The lava tube isn’t much of a sight, it’s basically a tunnel with some water dripping down.
The sulfur banks and steam vents make a nice and short walk. On my return I took the ‘Iliahi Trail, which has some nice passages to provide.
The park rangers are very friendly and helpful.

Volcanoes national park is easily one of the largest attractions on big island. I could spend all day here marveling over its beauty. There is a lot to see! May I suggest for a quick trip of 1−2hr first visit Kilauea and Jagger museum. Head back down the road and see the steam vents and a short walk over for a different view of the famous volcano. Next, follow the signs to the Thurston Lava Tube. If you have more time, continue down Crater Rim Dr and there’s a look out called Pu’u’pua’i and that over looks Kilauea Iki. There’s a great trail that’s easy with 4 mile or 1.2 mile options. See other review for details, Kilauea Iki Trail. Continuing on Crater Rim Dr there’s a fork in the road. To the right is a parking lot that leads to a ½ mile paved walking trail that ends at Pu’u’pua’i overlook. If you chose to walk straight through the gates at the fork in the road is a mile of paved road. No car access, only by foot. Along this road are several lookouts to other craters and Kilauea lookout. The left fork takes you to Chain of Craters. This road is 20 miles long and I didn’t want to continue to the end. We visited 4 or 5 stops before turning around. Seems like the bigger the parking lot the bigger the crater. Along this road are signs stating when the lava flow overtook the area. The park has a lot of area and is quite spacious and beautiful. At night you can visit the Kilauea lookout and see its magnificent glow. Don’t forget your jacket, it’s quite cold and can be rainy.

Nice place for a hike. The ambiance is– surreal. I arrived at 3pmish, and didn’t leave for several hours, not because I walked to the center of the craters, but my view on the trail was good enough for deep thinking, and appreciating. View literally brought me to tears. ;)

It’s hard to explain how beautiful this park is. You really have to see it for yourself to see the beauty.
When you first enter the park keep you r receipt because you have use it to enter the park for 7 days. This is great because we didn’t have time to look at everything the first day.
Go see everything here, especially driving through all the old lava flows! That was my favorite part of the whole park. The lava is everywhere and it’s unreal to drive through and look at.
The cliffs were beautiful to look at and we loved watching the waves crash into the cliffs. Kind of scary to be that close but it was fantastic.
I would come back here again for sure.
Park entrance fee is $ 15 for car.

Paid $ 15 entrance fee good for a week. Today was wet and cold and was difficult to do any of the tour due to poor visibility. It was business as usual at the park.

There are 2 Wonders of The World on the Big Island of Hawaii.
The Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and Louis R.
Both are huge, have many facets to marvel at, and should be witnessed at least once in a lifetime.
The only difference is that the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park has these enormous craters and steam vents to experience. Louis R’s skin is baby-​soft and flawless.
Oh yeah… and it takes $ 15/​car to get into the park. It costs a hell of a lot more to check out Louis R.
Mahalo

This is a wonderful national park that is open 24 hours a day year round. It is very accessible by car. It is located on the island of hawaii. One of their volcanoes Kilauea is the most active in the world making it the most visited attraction in Hawaii. Depending on the hike you choose to take you would be able to see steam rising from the sulfur banks. Old lava is present everywhere you go hiking.
There are five separate volcanoes in the park Mauna Kea, kohala, hualalai, moana loa, and Kilauea.
We went inside the Kilauea visitor center to pick up some maps. It is open everyday from 7:45am– 5pm. Here is where you find out the latest eruption updates. We found a ranger sharing his knowledge of the park. Everyone surrounded him as he answered questions and gave tips on where to go hiking, since there is plenty of trails.
One of the main questions was where do I go to see lava? Numerous of times he said that there is no active lava happening now. We all looked at him doubtfully and disappointed. I would have liked lava erupting down the sides. I would’ve started running to take a quick picture in front of it with a shaka lol.
There is a gift shop inside selling various hiking trail maps for only two bucks. Long sleeve shirts, photographs of lava and the volcano logo on caps were up for sale. Everyone was incredibly sweet and helpful. They were also distributing Free maps of the park.
What I found very cool was going to see the volcano at night around 8pm. We prayed for no fog lol. If you have a high tech professional camera you will capture the redness which is the reflection of the lava in there.
There is Another very important piece of information I would like to share. Being that this is located in Hilo, weather is bipolar. Be prepared for it to be very hot and cold with lots of rain. Bring rain boots, rain jacket, long sleeve, sweater, basically bring all four seasons of attire lol. Overall it was a beautiful park which we gladly enjoyed!

I wish we could have had more than one day here at this park. We arrived just in time at 10:30am to go on the Ranger tour (lasts about 30 minutes). It was a really good and informative introduction to the park and Hawaii’s history. You learn about the different plants and animals native and invasive to the island.
We walked the Crater Rim trail from the Visitor’s Center to the Jagger Museum. This trail was a littler over 2 miles each way. You get different amazing views of the crater. Along the way, you pass several steam vents. Then, once you reach the Jagger Museum, you have the best view of the crater at the lookout. The Jagger Museum has a lot of great artwork, lava pieces that you can touch, historical information, and a gift shop — great for all ages.
If we had longer, we would come back at night and park at the Jagger Museum (get there before 6 or after 78:30 since it gets crowded), and see the lava glow in the crater. We also would have driven along the Chain of Craters Road (will take a few hours due to the awesome stops along the way). We would also have done the Kileauea Iki trail where you get to walk on the crater’s caldera.
Tips: Bring sunscreen for when the sun is out. Bring a rain jacket or poncho for when the rain starts (and it will eventually). The pass to get into the park lasts for a week, so you can go more than one day during your stay. Wear comfortable hiking shoes for the trails.

Love, love this place. Wish we had more time. So many trails to hike and things to do.
Made the trip from Kona which took us about 2 hours. Our first stop was at the Visitor Center to get some context and information. Then we were off to the steam vents where you could see plumes of smoke coming from vents all around you. There is a view of the Kilauea caldera there and an even better one at the Jaggar Museum. After the musuem we did the Kilauea Iki hike then Thurston Lava tube. Our last stop was at Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs then to the Holei Sea Arch.
If I was doing this again I would probably give it an extra day or a few days. Wouldn’t mind doing the hike from Mauna Loa lookout to the top of Mauna Loa.

If you’re coming to Big Island you do need to put Kilauea in Volcano National Park on your to do list. However, I think you need to understand that this is not necessarily going to be a scene from that «classic-​should-​have-​won-​an-​Oscar» movie with Tommy Lee Jones, «Volcano.» No giant fissures cracking open in front of you spewing forth hellfire. And really, if there were, just how close would you like to be anyways? There are essentially two ways to guarantee seeing red-​hot flowing lava. One is helicopter if you can afford it. Second is to trek through government regulated land if you can afford it because the rangers will cite you for all you’re worth.
So with that notion out of your head you still need to see come here. Why, one it is still active. While it maybe impossible to get to the caldera because of toxic gases, you can still appreciate this wonder from great vantage points along the rim. On a cloudy enough day, you can still see the red glow. At night (mind you, if you’re coming here at night you probably should book a place in the area otherwise you’re traveling some pretty dark roads especially if you have to head back to Kona) the glow is very prominent.
There is a driving path that you can take that brings you to steam vents and then to the museum which overlooks the caldera. You’ll be amazed at the sheer size of the caldera as well as the completely devastated area surrounding it. Another path along the park includes a hike down through «old» lava fields. Again, it is quite mind boggling because at one point you’re playing Indiana Jones through the jungle and then all of a sudden nothing but stark black rock. The hike is moderate to hard because of huge basalt steps. There is also Thurston’s lava tube in the park. Again the enormous size of this lava made tunnel just blows you away.
The park rangers at the visitor center are very enthusiastic. Despite having to essentially answer the same questions all day, they really want you to enjoy and appreciate all that the park has to offer giving you helpful hints for hiking and viewing as well as lots of noteworthy trivia.
The museum overlooking the caldera has the usual stuff like shirts, hats, and stickers. It also has very informative exhibits detailing volcano building and its importance to the Hawaiian islands. My favorite part of the museum was looking at all of the inspired art pieces much depicting the Hawaiian goddess Pele.
Make sure to pack a lunch or at least eat prior to the park because there is only one restaurant. It is expensive but you can go through the lodge itself and look at the view of the caldera too.

What a unique full day of exploring this park holds for any family member.
We started at the Kilauea Visitor Center for 2 reasons:
1. Good trail maps
2. Video giving you all kinds of tips and warnings about the volcano and it scared my kids. haha!
Things we explored:
Thurston Lava Tube-​amazing
Volcanic Vents-​amazing
Trails:
Ha’akulamanu Sulphur Banks Trail 1.2 miles (easy peasy; did this during the day)
Halema’uma’u Trail-​did this during the day
End of Chain of Craters Road (MY FAVORITE)-did this one at Night. This was exciting for everyone. Its at the very end and there is no one out there (okay, we bumped into a couple of people, but that’s it). Incredible views of the stars, cliffs & coast and the point is that you can see the Lava Flow in the distance (which we did). The «path» is lava flows that covered the road in April 20 013 and this is your bumpy path. Flashlights & good shoes are essential to see where you are going; there are reflectors (but no lighting) along the way to help guide you (Its 1.25 miles).
Did this in late March so the weather was very comfortable; t-​shirt by day, light windbreaker at night.
Final Note: The road to the End of Chain of Craters is very dark and there is very little lighting along the way. As I was going along, a family of Nenes crossed the road and I almost hit them. BTW, these is the world’s rarest goose and is the official state bird of Hawaii. Thankfully, I spotted them in time, but that would have been a disaster!

I may be in the miniority, but I didn’t love this place. (I was tired. I was taking a red-​eye home that night. It was a long day of transit from Kona all the way here. I felt like we were in the car all day. I just wasn’t feeling it.)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Volcanoes are cool. The topography is interesting. Whatever.
I wanted a day at the beach on the other side of the island.