Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

The principal vent inside Kīlauea caldera and the site of the episodic summit eruption. In Hawaiian tradition it is the home of Pelehonuamea (Pele), and cultural practitioners conduct protocol at the rim today, particularly during eruptions. The 2018 collapse deepened and widened the crater. Lava glow shows only after dark, so this is the single feature that decides whether a given night is a quiet rim walk or a fountaining one. Check the USGS HVO updates before you go.

A pit crater beside the main caldera whose floor is the solidified lava lake from the 1959 eruption, which threw fountains to roughly 1,900 ft. Steam still rises from cracks in the cooled lake. Walking that floor, a quarter mile across what was a lake of molten rock in 1959, is the reason most people hike the Kīlauea Iki Trail. From the overlook you can watch hikers cross before deciding to descend.

A walk-through lava tube reached by a roughly half-mile loop through native ʻōhiʻa rainforest, where forest birds call along the path. The lit section is floor-level and short; an unlit stretch continues past it, so carry a flashlight for the kids. Per NPS, Nāhuku has closed periodically for structural monitoring, so check current status before counting on it.

The largest shield volcano on Earth by volume, with a summit at 13,679 ft, making up the whole south half of the park. It erupted on November 27, 2022, its first eruption since 1984, and is now quiet under heightened monitoring by the USGS. The summit route is a serious multi-day expedition starting near 6,500 ft, not a family day hike; this is the mountain you read about and watch, not one you climb with kids.

A lava sea arch at the coastal end of Chain of Craters Road, near where the 2003 lava flow blocked the highway. The full road descends about 19 miles from summit to coast, and the arch is the turnaround. It sits inside the park, but it reads as the place you drive to the end to reach. Stop at the pullouts on the way down.

The Kīlauea caldera rim view from the Volcano House grounds, open to day visitors and not only overnight guests. Lodging has stood here under the Volcano House name since 1846, in several successive buildings. The historical photo shows the 19th-century rim view rather than the current lodge. It is the easiest place to take in the caldera between a daytime hike and a night rim walk.

The only hotel inside the park, on the Kīlauea caldera rim. It is a privately operated concession, so reserve direct, and it books out far ahead during active eruptions. The historical image shows a 19th-century rim view, not the current building. For a family chasing night glow, sleeping on the rim shortens the walk to the overlooks.

The park's drive-in campground, set in ʻōhiʻa forest near the summit at roughly 4,000 ft, so nights run cool and often wet. Camping is first-come, or via the lodge concession for the cabins; verify current operation. There is no fuel inside the park, so fill up in Volcano Village first. The photo shows a Nēnē and flowering ʻōhiʻa, the forest setting the campground sits in.

A high point on the Kīlauea caldera rim, northwest side, with a sight line across to Halemaʻumaʻu. Per NPS, Uēkahuna is a chosen site for Native Hawaiian cultural practices to honor Pelehonuamea, so visitors share the overlook with cultural practitioners and should behave accordingly. It is one of the named night-glow overlooks; the rim is open 24 hours because glow shows only after dark. Subject to summit construction closures, so verify access.

A caldera-rim overlook that has been a primary night-glow viewpoint during recent summit eruptions. Access is by walking or biking a closed road segment from the Devastation Trail area, which makes it a longer outing than the drive-up overlooks; distances shift with closures. Worth the extra effort on a fountaining night when the drive-up lots fill.

A paved one-mile round trip, about an hour, through ground buried by cinder from the 1959 Kīlauea Iki eruption. Per NPS it is paved the whole way and stroller-passable, the gentlest summit walk and a good first outing before the Kīlauea Iki descent. The photo shows a nearby crater-floor walk in the same recovering landscape.

The canonical hike in the park: down through rainforest, across the solidified 1959 lava-lake floor where steam rises from cracks, and back up the far wall. From the Kīlauea Iki Overlook it is a 3.3-mile loop of about 2 to 3 hours, descending roughly 400 ft, rated moderate by NPS. The base research flags it as right for kids who hike regularly.

A 1.4-mile round trip of about 1 to 1.5 hours off the lower end of Chain of Craters Road, so it pairs with the drive to Hōlei Sea Arch. It leads to a Kānaka Maoli petroglyph field of roughly 23,000 images, per NPS; a boardwalk keeps visitors off the carvings, which are sacred and protected. There is no shade, so carry water and sun cover.

About a 1.2-mile boardwalk loop near the visitor center, easy, past yellow sulfur deposits and steam vents. The ground is warm and the air smells of sulfur, which is the detail kids remember. Vog and SO₂ can be hazardous here, so check the daily NPS air-quality reading before walking it with children or anyone with asthma.

The only sit-down dining inside the park, at the Kīlauea caldera rim, run by the Volcano House concession. It is the realistic in-park meal between a daytime hike and a night rim walk during an eruption. Hours and operation change, so verify with the concession. The historical photo shows the 19th-century rim view, not the current dining room.

A separate southern unit, the former Kahuku Ranch in the Kaʻū moku, which became park land on July 3, 2003 with Nature Conservancy help, per NPS. It is pastoral ranch country on Mauna Loa's south flank with its own trails, including a forested pit-crater route, and a quieter counterweight to the summit crowds. It typically opens limited days each week, so verify the schedule before driving the long way around.