Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Kilauea, the Rift Zone, and How to Visit When Lava Is Actually Flowing

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park covers 323,000 acres on the Big Island and contains two active volcanoes: Kilauea, which has been erupting almost continuously since 1983, and Mauna Loa, which erupted most recently in November 2022 for the first time in 38 years. The entry fee is USD 35 per vehicle, valid for seven days. The park is open 24 hours; the visitor centre keeps regular daytime hours.

The activity level changes constantly. Before visiting, check the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website (volcanoes.usgs.gov) for current eruption status. When Kilauea is erupting, the Halemaumau crater within the Kilauea caldera glows at night - this is what most visitors come to see. When it isn’t erupting, the caldera is still impressive but the spectacle is missing. The difference matters.

Crater Rim Drive and the caldera

Crater Rim Drive circles the Kilauea caldera - much of the west and southwest section has been closed since the 2018 eruption, which caused significant subsidence and destroyed portions of the road. The currently accessible sections give views into Halemaumau and across the caldera floor, which itself measures about three kilometres across. The Thomas A. Jaggar Museum, which had the best caldera overlook, was destroyed in 2018 and has not been rebuilt.

Steam Bluffs and the Sulphur Banks are accessible on foot from the Kilauea Visitor Center - the sulphur deposits colour the ground yellow and the ground temperatures near the vents make the air visibly shimmer. These are short walks of under a kilometre.

Chain of Craters Road

This 32km road descends 1,100 metres from the summit caldera to the coast, passing pit craters, lava flows from different decades, and ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs. The Pu’u Loa Petroglyph Field near the coast contains around 23,000 carved images made by Native Hawaiians over several centuries - the access trail is 1.6km round trip and boards protect the rock carvings from foot traffic.

The road ends at the coastline where a 1990 lava flow buried the town of Kalapana. You can walk on the cooled flow field to where the road disappears under hardened lava.

Kilauea Iki Trail

This is the best hike in the park for most visitors. The 6.5km loop descends into the Kilauea Iki crater, which last erupted in 1959 when a lava fountain reached 580 metres - still the highest ever recorded in Hawaii. The crater floor is cooled but still warm underfoot in places. The trail across the floor crosses 120 metres of elevation change over hardened lava, then climbs back through ohia lehua forest. Allow three hours.

Lava tube: Thurston (Nahuku)

The paved section of the Nahuku lava tube is 165 metres long and accessible without a torch. The tube formed when the outer skin of a lava flow hardened while molten rock continued flowing inside and eventually drained out, leaving a tunnel. The formation is real and worth the ten-minute walk.

Staying near the park

Volcano Village, 3km from the park entrance, has several small hotels and B&Bs. Kilauea Lodge charges around USD 180-220 per night and has a reliable restaurant. Volcano House, the historic hotel actually inside the park on the caldera rim, has rooms from USD 250; the position is excellent for watching the caldera at night but the hotel itself is functional rather than luxurious. Camping at Namakanipaio campground (USD 30 per night) is an alternative.

Logistics

The park is about 45km from Hilo and 145km from Kona - the drive from Kona takes around two hours on Highway 11. The only fuel near the park is in Volcano Village. The altitude at the caldera rim is around 1,200 metres, which is cooler and wetter than the coast; bring a layer. Vog (volcanic smog from sulphur dioxide emissions) affects visibility on some days and can be an issue for people with respiratory conditions.