Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [244]
A mile from the park entrance, the village of Volcano serves park visitors with a nice selection of restaurants and accommodations.
Maps
Pele is no friend to cartographers; though generally reliable, park maps have a short shelf life. That said, the free color map given at the park’S entrance is usually fine for driving around, seeing the main sights and hiking a few short and/or popular trails.
If you’ll be backpacking or hiking extensively, consider purchasing National Geographic’S Trails Illustrated Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It’S a comprehensive, waterproof and rip-resistant large-format topographic hiking map that identifies most terrain features, including campgrounds. For specific hikes, the USGS 1:24,000 maps Kilauea, Volcano and Ka′u Desert are also helpful.
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INFORMATION
The park (985-6000; www.nps.gov/havo; 7-day pass per car $10, per person on foot, bicycle or motorcycle $5) never closes. The toll station also sells two annual passes: a three-park Hawaii pass ($25, including HAVO, Pu′uhonua o Honaunau, and Haleakalā on Maui) and one for all national parks ($80).
Kilauea Visitor Center (Map; 985-6017; 7:45am-5pm) should be your first stop. Rangers can advise you on volcanic activity, air quality, trail conditions and the best things to see based on your time. A board lists the day’S guided hikes and ranger programs (which are posted by 8:45am). Pick up free trail pamphlets and junior-ranger program activity sheets. The excellent bookstore has a plethora of volumes and videos on volcanoes, flora, hiking, and Hawaiian culture and history. There’S also an ATM, a pay phone and rest rooms.
The park’S hotline (985-6000; 24hr) provides daily recorded updates on park weather, road closures and lava-viewing conditions. The USGS also has eruption updates on its website (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov). Note that the nearest gas station is in Volcano village.
At 4000ft above sea level, the Kilauea Caldera area is generally 10°F to 15°F cooler than Hilo or Kona, but weather is unpredictable and microclimates can vary dramatically within the park. Plan and prepare for hot sun, dry wind, fog, chilly rain and soaking downpours, all in a day. At a minimum, bring long pants, a jacket or sweater and a rain slicker.
The free Hele-On bus (Click here) leaves once a day from Hilo (at 2:40pm) and arrives at the park visitor center an hour later; take the 23 Ka′u.
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DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
Active volcanoes create a few unusual hazards. Though extremely rare and highly unlikely, deaths have occurred on park visits (see boxed text, below). Statistics are of course in your favor (fatalities are rare), but it keeps you on your toes. Interestingly, molten lava is itself not the most threatening personal danger. Instead, deaths and injuries tend to occur when people venture too close to the active flow – and wind up on unstable ‘benches’ of new land that collapse, or get caught in steam explosions when lava enters the ocean.
As for less mortal dangers, remember that hardened lava is uneven and brittle; rocks can be glass-sharp. Thin crusts can give way over unseen hollows and lava tubes; the edges of craters and rifts crumble easily. Deep earth cracks may be hidden by plants. When hiking, abrasions, deep cuts and broken limbs are all possible. So, even more than most places, stay on marked trails and take park warning signs seriously. Blazing paths into unknown terrain can damage fragile areas, lead to injuries, and leave tracks that encourage others to follow.
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HOT LAVA
If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see some good ol’ red-hot molten lava while you’re here. Even for island residents, it never gets old, and it changes all the time. Some tell of reading at home by the light of Kilauea’S lava fountains in 1959, or of seeing homes burn, or of roasting chicken in a molten lava ‘oven’ (outside park boundaries, of course). Even at a distance, witnessing such an elemental act of creation inspires profound awe – seeing Pele