Lava Tree State Park

We drove from Hilo mostly to see Lava Tree and were disappointed. Travel books had said that it was amazing and a total must see. Unfortunately it really just looks like towers of tall lava. Though the park was clearly kept after which was nice but not worth the drive. Don’t plan on spending more than a half hour. I wouldn’t make this a must see on your trip if you are on a time crunch. The coastline and towns around the state park are beautiful though.

I was nervous when looking at the address location as being «just off the freeway, difficult to find» that I wouldn’t be able to find it either. Not only can you just type in the gps «lava tree» and it comes up. But the place is well marked with big signs. Small park with a paved parking area and restrooms. The park has a short loop trail about ½ mile. There’s 85 formations in the park but only 40 visible from the trail. The trees left were over taken in the 1700 – 1800 century by the volcano. The eruption had the lava flow through the forest and captured the trees inside preserving it. It was interesting to stop and visit if you have extra time and are in the area. I wouldn’t make this a priority on the list. Compared to all the lava flow and craters in volcanoes park, this seems less impressive. But I still enjoyed the quick walk for my toddler, the history and rest stop.

This is an amazing place to see how Mother Nature works her wonders. It’s a small park so you can walk through it in a very short time. It is very interesting to see how the lava flows covered the trees. There are also trees that were blown down during the recent hurricane that hit this area. There are signs along the way to explain what you are looking at as well. The flowers growing here, especially the wild orchids, are spectacular. you can spend as much time as you want here. It’s worth a stop but, you can judge for yourself if it’s worth the time. I thought it was and will return on our next trip to Hilo.

Park was underwhelming. Nice walk, but short and not much else to see. The lava trees are neat, the infographics are informative, but don’t plan to spend more than 30 mins there. The turn-​off can be easy to miss; only a small 3′ x 4′ hand-​painted sign marks the entrance.

This is a pretty walk around the lava trees. Some of the trees are still standing and huge ones have fallen over and torn from the roots yet you can see new growth on the branch’s. I enjoy seeing life coming back after natural disasters happen, if you enjoy that kind of stuff you will appreciate the trip here. There are signs marked to stay on the paved path– the trees are tender in the area and can fall. This is a quick thing to see if you don’t have much time. It was empty when we came in the middle of the day. We stopped to see this on our way back out from Pahoa-​Makena black sand beach it was along the way.

We spent the morning at the tide pools. Before that, we stopped along the way at this state park. We thought the lava trees were very interesting, something my kids had never seen before.
The Good:
— Easy to find just off the main road to the southeast. Well-​marked entrance.
— The walk around the park is short, but lush and green.
— There are plenty of examples of the lava trees, some short and squat, others tall.
— There is a restroom at the parking lot before you go in the park.
The Not So Good:
— Honestly, I don’t see anything not good. The park is small and rather «unexciting» meaning there is not much else to do except look at the lava trees. But the experience was still good.
Bottom Line: If you are passing by, take 30 minutes or so and stop and take a walk among the lava trees. Signs tell you how the formed. These are another formation made by the active volcanos that make up this island, so it is worth the time.

It’s hard to find actually. I wouldn’t make this a priority for your trip if you have limited time. I believe there are other areas with these lava encased trees. When I came it was closed for construction because I believe the hurricane that came through here downed some trees.
There is a small parking lot. Google maps takes you beyond the entrance so just follow the road signs when you get close!

This is totally worth the drive, as it was one of the highlights of this area. Gorgeous flora. Bathrooms. What more could you want? I walked the loop twice.

Beautiful.
It’s a small park but expect to do some walking. Wasn’t busy when I went. Nice stroll and a little bit of education.
This park is in the Puna District. That means you’re in the rainforest area of the Big Island. Expect rain, mostly rain. Maybe overcast. Maybe sunshine. Expect the most unexpected weather in Hawaii.
It’s a very clean park, so malama the aina (I think that means take care of the land in Hawaiian, haha). Around the park there are fences, when I was younger they didn’t exist. There are cliffs or deep holes, IDK how you explain it and the fences keeps everyone from falling in. Haha.
Free parking. Any type of weather is a great time to visit. It’s just a beautiful hole in the wall park.

The park itself had a nice, short, shaded walk, and the lava tree structures were fascinating, but honestly the best part about the visit for me was the scenic drive up from Pahoa!

I went to this park to kill time before a flight back to Honolulu. Ok, kill a TON of time. This park was fairly easy to find in the Puna district of the Big Island. The trail was paved and looped around. I’d say it took less than 45 minutes to make it all the way around. The history of the lava trees is pretty cool. The park is worth checking out if you are in that area. Take some pics, send them in Instagram.

A nice hour long stroll through beautiful lava «trees» (Lava that eats up a tree but stays in tree form.) It’s a great stop over on your way into Hilo, if you want to get out and stretch your legs, or even for a picnic.
When we arrived it had just stopped raining, and while it was damp, the birds were singing and I felt like I was in a different world. My almost 3 year old enjoyed running ahead on the trails (make sure you stress that they stay ON the pavement!) and there were benches under cover if you happen to get caught in the rain.
The park wasn’t just peaceful, it was informative. Signs doted the way telling us about different plants and I learned how a lava tree actually forms.
Hard to find but totally worth the price (free) I would definitely keep an umbrella handy as you stroll this beautiful little park.

This place is super hard to find! It has a very small sign that tells you that this is the Lava Tree State Park.
Other than the small small sign this place is pretty great! When I went there it was dry so it was an easy mile hike. While on this hike you can see local trees and flowers. You can also see petrified trees. It was really cool to see this park. To be completely honest theres really not much to say about this place. It’s manicured very nicely. It’s also a pretty place to take a hike. If you need to use the bathroom they also have a nice bathroom there.
While your in the area go check out Isaac Hale Beachpark and see the natural hot tubs.

A nice stop to take a stroll and walk around looking at these tree which are covered by lava? What we saw were basically trees so perfect for nature lovers :)
Unfortunately the rain destroy our stroll along the park and we were soaking wet at the end… This place is good for a quick break but nothing much to do !

Perfect for my 75 year old parents. Meticulously maintained concrete pathway with nicely manicured grounds, good signage, and quaint little temple pavilions to rest in off the path. Parks worker monitoring the parking lot. Much improved from the first time i visited back in the ’90’s. We enjoyed it.

Loved this little park. It is a short loop to go all the way around and the shade makes it a perfect spot to stroll in the heat of the day. The lava trees are magical and the whole experience made me feel like a dinosaur was waiting just around the corner. They also have some nice chickens in the parking lot and a good clean restroom.

Maybe not a 5 star spectacle, but a beautifully kept botanical garden featuring lava trees where I was expecting only devastation and mosquitos (lucky our repellant application was recent). This can’t be beat for the price (free) — not as large and varied as Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, but made their $ 15 admission a little hard to swallow.

Trees. A lot of trees. That was my first thought when I passed by the entrance by accident (the entrance sign is a bit inconspicuous), veered around by my friend’s advice, and drove breathless to the parking lot. Sure, the east side of the Big Island is green green green, but with lava trees? Yes way.
Lava Tree State Park isn’t as jaw-​dropping as Volcanoes National Park, and you can easily go through this park in about an hour. But it’s free and loaded with enough trees for your oxygen needs. They won’t really shade you from the blasting sun though, so hit that sunscreen.
The lava trees are the highlights. Hug a stumpy one, or if you have a juvenile mind, snicker at the taller ones (they really are phallic-​looking). Just don’t break them (of course).
Watch your step though; the paths can be full of cracks. Other than that, this park is a good stop if you’re on your way to the black-​sand beaches.

Really gotta be careful. It’s not like a dangerous hike or anything like that, but it’s really easy to miss your footing. It’s best to go when it’s really sunny. When it rains, it makes it that much easier to slip. I know it’s common sense, but I thought I’d throw it out there just in case.
It’s amazing how beautiful lava can be. That sounds really weird, but you have to go and see it for yourself. I think even the most anti-​nature person will love it. When we went, it was during summer, and it wasn’t crowded at all. I guess it isn’t that well known?
The lava was obviously really powerful because it annihilated the trees in its path.

I have a rather childish sense of humor. So yes, if you were at the Lava Tree State Park on April 8^th around 2:00pm, you likely saw my behind. There is one specific sign in the park that warns of «dangerous cracks in the park area.» (Not the dangerous earth cracks sign, that one isn’t as funny). I asked Pete to take a picture of me near said sign, then I proceeded to lift my skirt and flash my thong clad behind. I believe my bum may be on at least 10 cameras from Japanese tourists nearby… Don’t worry. No children were present. I am a lady after all.
If you are in the area, definitely check out Lava Tree State Park. I wouldn’t necessarily drive out of the way to see if, but if you are in Hilo/​Pahoa area, you might want to stop by for a nice walk. There is an asphalt trail surrounding the park, and they have done a good job maintaining the area. The area is lush and green and there is some beautiful vegetation nearby. But do bring the bug spray as Veronica mentioned. The park actually looks 100% better than when I went to it last in 2004. They have done a good job restoring it, so if you haven’t been in a long time, it’s worth a revisit.
The park is filled with what I can only describe as phallic lava formations. They are supposed to be lava trees, but really, to my mind, they were a bit dirtier than that.
Note: very clean flush toilets at this park.