Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
In A Nutshell
Park Entrance
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is located 30 miles (48 km) south of Hilo and 95 miles (153 km) east of Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawai'i. There is only one entrance, which is located off Highway 11, south of Hilo and east of Kailua-Kona.
General Information
The park is open 24 hours every day of the year, including holidays. For general park information, call (808) 985-6000; visit online at www.nps/gov/havo; or stop by the Kīlauea Visitor Center or Jaggar Museum on Crater Rim Drive. You can also tune your radio in to AM 530. If and when eruptions occur in the park, temporary road signs direct you to safe vantage points. For an eruption update, call (808) 985-6000. For information about accommodations, call Volcano House at (808) 967-7321; reservations@volcanohousehotel.com; or visit www.volcanohousehotel.com. There are various accommodations throughout Volcano Village as well.
Entrance Fees
Your entrance permit is good for seven consecutive days. The entrance fee is $10 per vehicle or motorcycle and $5 per hiker or bicyclist. Entrance is free if you have an America the Beautiful—National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass ($80), good for one year from date of purchase, and covers admission fees into any area managed by the National Park Service, the USDA Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, or Bureau of Reclamation. Entrance is also free if you have an Access Pass (free to U.S. citizens or residents with permanent disabilities) or a lifetime Senior Pass ($10 one-time fee to U.S. citizens or residents age 62 or older). The Tri-Park Pass is $25 and allows entrance into Hawai'i Volcanoes, Haleakalā and Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau for 12 months from when it is purchased.
Park Information Brochure/Map
If you enter the park when the entrance station is open, you will receive a park brochure and map. If you arrive after business hours, pick one up at the Kīlauea Visitor Center. Keep it handy as a reference and for the useful maps it contains.
If You Only Have a Day
If you are planning a brief visit to the park, please see page 40 for more information.
Visitor Center and Museum
Kīlauea Visitor Center is located a 0.25-mile from the park entrance. It is open from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Please call (808) 985-6000 for more information.
A 25-minute park movie is shown hourly and there are displays on volcano formation and geologic processes, native plants and animals, and early Hawaiians. Backcountry permits (necessary for all overnight backcountry camping trips) may also be obtained. Parking and restrooms are available.
Thomas A. Jaggar Museum, located next to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, is situated three miles inside the park entrance, west of the visitor center on Crater Rim Drive. It is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call (808) 985-6049 for more information.
Museum visitors can see ongoing videos of volcanic eruptions, geologic displays and working seismic equipment relating to the adjacent Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (not open to the public).
There are also spectacular overlooks into Halema'uma'u Crater and Kīlauea Caldera. Parking and restrooms are available.
The Hawai'i Natural History Association operates bookstores at both locations that sell slides, maps, books, posters and videos. For more information please call (808) 985-6052 or visit www.hawaiinaturalhistory.org.
Special Services -
Major park buildings and their adjacent facilities that are wheelchair- accessible are indicated by the - symbol. These include the Kīlauea Visitor Center, the Volcano House, the Jaggar Museum and the Volcano Art Center. Park interpreters can provide information and often lead hikes for those who need special assistance.
The new 1-mile, fully accessible Sulphur Bank Trail invites visitors of all capabilities to explore the park's thermally-active areas of steam vents and solfataras. A paved path meanders through steaming meadow and 'ōhi'a forest. At Sulphur Banks, the trail transitions into a 5-foot wide raised boardwalk that extends 1000-feet, protecting natural geothermal processes and allowing visitors to peer into steam vents and be at eye-level with sulfur crystals.
A portion of the Earthquake Trail, a one-mile stretch of the Crater Rim Trail, is wheelchair-accessible with assistance. Thurston Lava Tube (Nāhuku) has a paved trail leading through a fern forest. Steep stairways lead into and out of the lava tube. Rest-room facilities are wheelchair-accessible. Campsites at N¯āmakanipaio (on Highway 11) and Kulanaokuaiki (on Hilina Pali Road) campgrounds have wheelchair-accessible restrooms. The campgrounds are open year-round on a first-come, first-served basis. No reservations or permission is needed. Please call (808) 985-6000 for more information. Crater Rim Drive and Chain of Craters Road offer scenic vistas of the volcano and its forests from several roadside pullouts.
What to Bring
While touring the park, it is a good idea to wear a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen because the sun can be intense. Since typical weather at Kīlauea's summit is cool and rainy, it is a good idea to bring a warm jacket and rain gear. To better protect your feet from lava, wear sturdy walking shoes rather than sandals. Drinking water and food are not readily available in some areas of the park, such as Chain of Craters Road. Drinking water, snacks and picnic lunches are available at Volcano House and in Volcano Village.
Hawaii Volcanoes In Depth
News from the Parks
Denali National Park Goes Greener With New Hybrid Commercial Bus From IC Bus
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
Canyoneering Heaven At Zion National Park
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
Shenandoah National Park Launches Multimedia Tour Inviting Visitors to Experience the Blue Ridge Mountains Like Never Before
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
Hiker tackles every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
Rabid bat in Olympic National Park puts visitor, three employees in treatment
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
