About halfway along Chain of Craters Road is this coastal lookout (elevation 2000ft), with picnic tables and commanding views. That inky black snake's tongue licking the shoreline is from the 1969 Mauna Ulu eruption that obliterated the original Chain of Craters Road. Just beyond it is Apua Point, accessible via the Puna Coast trails. Below Kealakomo (entrance path), the road descends in long, sweeping switchbacks, some cut deeply through lava flows.
Kealakomo
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
9.82 MILES
Kilauea volcano lies at the center of activity in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The unassuming bump on Mauna Loa's southeast flank would be easily…
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
7.73 MILES
Even among Hawaii's many wonders, this national park stands out. Its two active volcanoes testify to the ongoing birth of the islands: quiet Mauna Loa (13…
10.25 MILES
The original Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook off Crater Rim Dr was closed in 2008 due to volcanic activity and the very real threat of death. For the next decade,…
Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach Park
25.64 MILES
Beyond the nearly omnipresent green sea turtles basking in the sun, or the rare hawksbill turtles that lay their eggs here (be careful where you walk),…
3.12 MILES
The gentle, 1.3-mile round-trip to Puʻu Loa (roughly, 'hill of long life') leads to one of Hawaiʻi's largest concentrations of ancient petroglyphs, some…
28.74 MILES
Arguably Hilo's most beautiful spot, these sprawling Japanese gardens are perfect for picnicking. Named for Hawaii's last queen (r 1891–93), the 30-acre…
8.6 MILES
When 'Little Kilauea' burst open in a fiery inferno in November 1959, it filled the crater with a roiling lake of molten rock fed by a 1900ft fountain…
Kilauea Visitor Center & Museum
9.91 MILES
Stop here first on your visit to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Extraordinarily helpful (and remarkably patient) rangers and volunteers can advise you…
Nearby Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park attractions
3.12 MILES
The gentle, 1.3-mile round-trip to Puʻu Loa (roughly, 'hill of long life') leads to one of Hawaiʻi's largest concentrations of ancient petroglyphs, some…
3.27 MILES
This jaw-dropping, mile-long crater is the largest in the East Rift Zone. Although once accessible by road, it's now 5 miles along the Napau Crater Trail,…
3.7 MILES
Ancient Hawaiians used pulu, the golden, silky fibers found at the base of hapuʻu (tree fern) fiddleheads, to dress wounds and embalm the dead. In the…
4.06 MILES
The once-awesome ʻAlae crater did not go easily. The Mauna Ulu eruption had just filled the 1440ft-wide and 540ft-deep crater with a lake of molten lava…
4.29 MILES
In 1969, eruptions from Kilauea's East Rift Zone began building a new lava shield, Mauna Ulu (Growing Mountain). By the time the flow stopped in 1974, it…
4.44 MILES
Sort of. The road ends where the lava says it ends, having consumed this coastal section of Chain of Craters Road repeatedly since 1969. Currently there…
4.49 MILES
Constantly brutalized by unrelenting surf, the coastal section of Chain of Craters Road has sharply eroded lava-rock pali (cliffs). Visible from near the…
6.1 MILES
Puʻu ʻOʻo vent saw the longest-lasting and most voluminous of the Kilauea's eruptions, oozing an estimated 80 to 160 million gallons of lava per day, or…