Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

From the often-snowy summit of Mauna Loa, the world's most massive volcano, to the boiling coast where lava pours into the sea, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (car/bicycle or pedestrian 7-day pass $25/12) is a micro-continent of thriving rainforests, volcano-induced deserts, high-mountain meadows, coastal plains and plenty of geological marvels in between.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Smoke plumes from the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.

    Kilauea

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    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…

  • Kilauea crater fumarole expelling fumes. 467882084 Cloudscape, Pele, Kilauea, Geology, Fumes, Exploding, Wide Angle, Big Island, Hawaii Islands, Day, Island, Volcanic Crater, Fumarole, Volcano, Earth, Cloud, Fog, hot spot, sulfide, Gas, Crater, Halemaʻumaʻu

    Halemaʻumaʻu Crater

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    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,…

  • Petroglyphs in lava rock at Pu'uloa along Chain of Craters road, in the Volcanoes National Park. 1200494920 ancient, archeology, art, artwork, carving, chain, civilization, craters, culture, draw, drawing, hawaii, hawaiian, heritage, hill, historic, history, icon, indigenous, island, landmark, lava, loa, long, message, national, native, old, outdoors, park, petroglyph, polynesian, pu'u, pu'uloa, puu, puuloa, road, rock, sacred, spiritual, states, stone, symbol, travel, tribal, tropical, united, usa, volcano, writing

    Puʻu Loa Petroglyphs

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    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…

  • This is a shot of the Kilauea Volcano from the Kilauea Overlook in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, this is a panoramic shot of the caldera of the large Volcano on the south side of The Big Island of Hawaii 1488714858

    Kilauea Iki Overlook

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    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

    Kilauea Visitor Center & Museum

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    Stop here first on your visit to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Extraordinarily helpful (and remarkably patient) rangers and volunteers can advise you…

  • The smoking crater of the volcano Mauna Loa on Big Island, Hawaiian archipelago, in Volcanoes National Park, after the eruption of lava in the summer of 2018, from the air

    Mauna Loa

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    The world's largest subaerial (above water) volcano, Mauna Loa (Long Mountain) is so massive that you feel its presence more than see it. Even when it…

  • Jaggar Museum

    Jaggar Museum

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    There's plenty packed into this small one-room geology museum including real-time seismographs and tiltmeters recording earthquakes inside the park (and…

  • Hawaii, Big Island, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, hiker taking photos along a trail through native rainforest at Thurston Lava Tube.

    Thurston Lava Tube

    Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

    On Kilauea's eastern side, Crater Rim Dr passes through a rainforest thick with tree ferns and ohia trees to the overflowing parking lot for ever-popular…

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Articles

Latest stories from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

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Honuʻea (Hawaiian hawksbill turtle) hatchlings. Pōhue is critical habitat to the endangered honuʻea

Beaches

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is expanding for good reasons: here's what you need to know

Aug 10, 2022 • 6 min read

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Guidebooks

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