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Hawaii

HAWAI’I VOLCANOES

ESTABLISHED 1916


Active volcanoes give an edge to the thrill at this park, where you can feel that the ground is alive beneath your feet as you gaze at the epic landscapes.

Viewing the majestic Mauna Loa from a distance is in itself humbling, but ascending to the 13,679-ft (4,169-m) summit of the Earth's largest volcano is an exhilarating experience in a category of its own.

Of the two paths to the top, one takes up to five days, and the shorter option is a nearly 20-mile (31-km) test of endurance—even the fittest person will need 14 hours to complete the trek. But the rewards are rich: views of Mauna Kea, Hawai’i’s highest peak, and the exhilaration of conquering a volcano that's been active a million years.

On the lower mountain slopes is the Kapāpala Canoe Forest. This 1,257-acre (509-ha) preserve is part of the much larger wao akua forest (forest of the gods), which protects the acacia koa tree used in traditional canoe making. It’s not hard to imagine these tall, slender trunks reaching up to touch their gods.

2018

The year the Kīlauea crater doubled in size, after the May eruption.

5

The length in miles (8 km) of the longest cat-proof fence in the US, built to protect the Hawaiian petrel.

1,653

The number of endangered species in Hawai’i—a third of all those in the US.

Ways to Explore

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Enjoy by car ▷ A trip around Chain of Craters Road and Crater Rim Drive is like going through an enormous drive-through museum—one that's on another planet.

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Tour the craters ▷ Get a close-up view of the Kīlauea and Kīlauea Iki craters, which last erupted in 1959. A steep, rocky descent through lush rain forest opens onto the moonscape of the hardened lava lake bed—magnificent.

Go on a hike Two must-do short hikes are Halema‘uma‘u Trail, near a crater that still emits sulfur steams, and the aptly named Devastation Trail, through ash- covered remains of rain forest wiped out in the eruption of 1959.

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Take an easy walk ▷ Wander the path of the Thurston Lava Tube, a now fern-lined tunnel that formed after an underground river of lava drained away.

Ever-evolving landscape

With volcanic explosions happening as recently as May 2018—which closed major parts of the park for four months—you know that any visit to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is something special.

On one the park’s iconic drives, such as the Chain of Craters Road, the dramatic landscape becomes a monumental drive-through museum, unfolding at every turn. As you set out, the winding roads skirt through pretty woodland forest, but then suddenly the trees end and you are surrounded by black lava rock lining the road, evidence of a violent eruption. Overlooks reveal what those trees conceal, allowing you to look out over these vast craters created long ago by the Earth’s mighty upheavals. The oldest volcano in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, to which these volcanoes belong, dates back 81 million years, and within the park three volcanoes are active. Indeed, Kīlauea is so active that one stretch or another of the 19-mile (31-km) Chain of Craters Road is covered by lava almost every year.

FOCUS ON

The First Hawaiians

Hawaiian lore tells the stories of the islands’ past, where the people came from, and how the culture was created from the shared input of far-flung ancestors. It’s thought that the islands were settled starting in AD 300 by people from other Pacific islands, including the Marquesas Islands, Bora Bora, and Tahiti. Each brought their own customs and beliefs, which initially caused strife, but eventually blended to create the unique culture of modern Hawai’i.

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Crater Rim Drive is a circular route offering spectacular views of the volcanic landscape

A crater within a crater

The best view of the crater is from the Kīlauea Iki Overlook on the Crater Rim Drive, another 11 miles (18 km) of woods giving way to overlooks across vast expanses of lava, breathing out blasts of steam. If time allows, take the trail from the Kīlauea Iki Overlook to get even closer to the heart of the action.

So big is the Kīlauea crater, and so vigorous its activity through the centuries, that it contains another crater within it: Halema‘uma‘u. Its name means house of the ‘āma‘u fern, and this unusual local plant likes colonizing lava flows. You’ll see lots of them on the Halema‘uma‘u Trail, which starts at the Volcano House hotel. It’s a 1.6-mile (2.6-km) round trip through rain forest filled with ferns, leafy trees, and huge lichen-covered rocks, some of which were spewed out in past eruptions.

The trail leads into the crater, a visual contrast to the lushness of the forest. It’s a stark lunar landscape stretching before you, with a sulfurous smell of the gases that seep from cracks and fissures filling the air. How far you can walk on the trail depends on how restless the volcano is. Within the main caldera, you’ll come face to face with Halema‘uma‘u crater, which Hawaiians consider home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes and creator of the Hawaiian islands. In this vast and surreal landscape, the story makes perfect sense.

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At the Kamokuna Viewing Area, a ranger offers insights on the park’s history and volcanic phenomena

History Timeline

Hawaii’s volcanoes are even more awe-inspiring when you consider their earliest activity occurred 5.1 million years ago—two in the Emperor seamount chain are still very much alive.

1790

A huge eruption of Kīlauea traps many local villagers who couldn’t escape its fury. The footprints they make as they frantically tried to flee are still visible.

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1916

A proposal to make this area, already popular with tourists, a national park is put forward in 1903. It is signed into law in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson.

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1924

After more than 50 explosions at Kīlauea in over two weeks, Halema‘uma‘u, the largest crater in the caldera, doubles in diameter and is considerably deeper.

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1959

Between November 14 and December 20, 16 separate explosions take place next to the Kīlauea caldera, creating a completely new crater named ī Kīlauea Iki.

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1980

The national park is made an International Biosphere Reserve, creating a living laboratory to preserve its ecosystem and control alien species.

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1982

On April 30, Kīlauea begins erupting again, with explosions lasting 15 hours. Temperatures between 2,075°F and 2,102°F (1,135°C and 1,150°C) are recorded.

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1987

The park becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the same year as the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, and the archeological site of Palenque in Mexico.

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2008

On March 19, a small earthquake shakes Kīlauea's summit. No lava is emitted, but there is enough ash to close Crater Rim Drive and blanket nearby communities.

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2018

On May 11, the park closes because of excessive activity, after which Kīlauea volcano erupts and the lava flows for three months, destroying more than 700 homes.

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During an eruption, a stream of lava gushes from a height of 60 ft (18 m), causing the heat and pressure of the superheated water to create a giant explosion

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