Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, on the "Big Island" of Hawai'i, offers the visitor a look at two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.
This Article Is From
Guide to the National Parks—Just Published
The most comprehensive, up-to-the-minute book of its kind
Official Web Site
More than 4,000 feet high and still growing, Kīlauea abuts the southeastern slope of the older and much larger Mauna Loa, or "long mountain." Mauna Loa towers some 13,679 feet above the sea: Measured from its base 18,000 feet below sea level, it exceeds Mount Everest in height. Mauna Loa's gently sloping bulk—some 19,000 cubic miles in volume—makes it the planet's most massive single mountain.
The park stretches from sea level to Mauna Loa's summit. Beyond the end of the road lies Mauna Loa's wilderness area, where backpackers encounter freezing nights and rough lava trails amid volcanic wonders: barren lava twisted into nightmarish shapes, cinder cones, gaping pits. Kīlauea, however, provides easy access to a greater variety of scenery and cultural sites.
On the slopes of Kīlauea, whose name means "spreading, much spewing," lush green rain forest borders stark, recent lava flows. This natural laboratory of ecological change displays all stages of forest regeneration—from early regrowth of lichens and ferns to dense forest. The rain forest on the windward side of Kīlauea's summit gives way to the stark, windswept Ka'ī Desert on the hot, dry southwestern slope. At the shore, waves create lines of jagged cliffs; periodic eruptions send fresh lava flows to meet the sea amid colossal clouds of steam.
Geological dynamism forms the park's primary natural theme, followed closely by evolutionary biology. Thousands of unique species have evolved on the isolated Hawaiian islands. Cultural sites abound as well, reminders of the Polynesian pioneers who steered their great double-hulled canoes to Hawai'i beginning some 1,500 years ago.
The United Nations has named the park both an international biosphere reserve and a World Heritage site. Many of the park's intriguing native plants and animals, however, are in peril, defenseless against alien species including weedy invasive plants and feral pigs.
How to Get There
Fly to the island of Hawai'i, also called the Big Island. Airlines serve the Kona airport from the mainland and from other Hawaiian islands; only inter-island flights land in Hilo. From Kona, head south around the island on Hawaii 11 past Kealakekua Bay, where Captain Cook met his death, and Ka Lae, or South Point, southernmost land in the 50 states. You'll reach the Kīlauea summit after a 95-mile drive on a good road.
From Hilo, Hawaii 11 rises 4,000 feet in 30 miles on your way past small towns, macadamia orchards, and rain forest, to reach the park at Kīlauea's summit.
When to Go
Year-round. The weather is often driest in September and October. The climate ranges from warm and breezy on the coast, to cool and frequently wet at the summit of Kīlauea, to nightly freezing with occasional snowstorms above about 10,000 feet on Mauna Loa. To avoid most tour bus crowds, plan to visit the major sights before 11 a.m. or after 3 p.m.
How to Visit
An intensive 1-day visit can encompass highlights of the Kīlauea summit via Crater Rim Drive and the coastal region via Chain of Craters Road. Regular tours by bus and small van operate daily from many Hilo and Kona hotels. Those with a botanical or ornithological bent will enjoy exploring Mauna Loa Road (accessible from Hawaii 11), which takes you through upland forest to the Mauna Loa trailhead at 6,662 feet: At Kipukapuaulu, be sure to take the 1-mile loop trail winding through 100-acre Kipuka (an island of vegetation surrounded by a more recent lava flow) containing one of the richest concentrations of native plants and birdlife in Hawai'i.
