Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Travel Guide

 20 Reviews  At the end of the Chain of Craters Road where the lava had closed the road, the bus stopped and gave us a chance to get out and walk on the lava and take photos close up of what I had seen from a distance in the morning from the helicopter. It was very interesting. 

 13 Reviews  My grandmother found from talking to one of the rangers (she talks to everyone) that there would be a ranger led walk to the Kilauea Crater that morning at about 10:30, so I did that. He gave us a talk at the visitor's center first and it was very interesting. We went through a tropical rainforest... 

 5 Reviews  On the top of Kilauea is the Halema'uma'u Crater, the best view of which is at the Halema'uma'u Overlook, about halfway around the Crater Rim Road from the Park entrance. An additional depression in the Kilauea Caldera, the crater creates something of a lunar landscape with its most recent floor... 

 15 Reviews  There are two main roads in the park. This is one of them - the Crater Rim Drive takes you along a portion of the summit caldera (large pit crater) of Kilauea. The road starts at Kilauea Visitor Center. The places we went on this road include the Steam Vents, the Jaggar Museum, the Kilauea Iki... 

 7 Reviews  The bus stopped for us to take a walk into the Thurston Lava Tube. This lava tube was discovered in 1913 by Lorrin Thurston, a local newspaper publisher. At that time the roof of the tube was covered with lava stalactites, but those soon disappeared to souvenir collectors. This is a tube that lava... 

 7 Reviews  Rob (the tour bus driver) stopped at the steam vent which has a railing around it. I didn't see but one of the steam vents because I didn't walk past the one that is in the parking lot. Rob explained that ground water seeps down to the hot volcanic rocks in this area and returns to the surface as... 

 3 Reviews  The first stop on our bus tour from Hilo was the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum. I am really interested in volcanology so I was very interested in the working seismographs. The Museum is next to the main crater, Halema'uma'u We also came back here at night on our trip to the Big Island after the cruise... 

 4 Reviews  As we drove along the road in the park, the guide told us about the ‘ohi’a trees and I took photos of the fronds of giant hapu’u, a tree fern. Everything looked very green and the color almost glows in the photos. 

 4 Reviews  I understand that there used to be helicopter tours right from the park, but they are no longer available as there were safety concerns. The tour I booked from the cruise ship left from the Hilo airport. Since we didn't do the Tora Tora Tora tour where black clothing was suggested for lack of... 

 3 Reviews  When we were at the visitor's center I was primarily interested in taking photos of the petroglyphs. Later I got a chance to walk to the trail and see them in person. I was also interested in the exhibits on island formation but I didn't take photos of them. 

 2 Reviews  We were warned in advance about the multiple dangers of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and especially the Halema'uma'u Overlook. You can geuss them: * Don't go to close to the rim, it's quite a drop whenever you fall; * Be in good shape, beacuse the hike towards is not easy; * Et cetera. But we... 

 2 Reviews  I'll add them all here. First and foremost bring a 1.5 liter bottle of water with you. You can buy it at any store you stop in to here so there isn't a shortage. I actually had to refill at a water fountain cause I drank it all not even half way. The trails itself vary in terrain from giant roots,... 

 1 Review  The Hawaiians call them Pali. Scientists call them fault scarps. Most of us would call them cliffs. But by whatever name you call them, they can be deadly especially along the seacoast close to the Chain of Craters road. These cliffs are common both around the summit calderas and close to the... 

 3 Reviews  Halema'uma'u changed greatly during the 20th century. In 1924 it was only 1,500 feet in diameter but was filled by a lake of molten lava that bubbled and boiled 2,100 degrees in Fahrenheit. There is currently no red lava visible in the crater, but we have been told that it is only 300 feet below...