It poured down rain all night, but conditions were better by morning. We're not on the dry side of the island anymore! Also, Volcano Village is located at almost 4,000 feet, so it's not as warm here either.
Self-catered breakfast
The Island of Hawaii is formed by five major volcanoes: Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, Kohala, and Kilauea. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park encompasses the summit of two of these – Kilauea and Mauna Loa – two of the most active volcanoes in the world.
Currently, Kilauea's Halema'uma'u crater has been in a constant state of eruption since December 23, 2024, with episodic lava fountains reaching as high as 1,400 feet! At the time of our visit, there had been 36 “episodes” of the current eruption. It would be cool to see episode 37, but the timing didn't seem promising. Still, we were hopeful...
Kilauea Volcano's Halema'uma'u crater
We spent the day exploring the sights along Crater Rim Drive. Uekahuna Overlook is the closest you can get to the flowing lava vents. No lava was visible this morning, just lots of steam. From Uekahuna Overlook, we walked the Crater Rim Trail to the Steam Vents and back, about 1.5 miles round trip.
Jana and the volcano
The most active volcano in the world
Watch your step!
After a picnic lunch, we hiked the Kilauea Iki Trail in a clockwise direction, starting from the Kilauea Iki Overlook. It was a moderately tough hike of 4.2 miles. Pro tip: Wear hiking boots or trail shoes for traversing the pointy a'a lava. It's not all smooth pahoehoe down in the crater like it looks from the rim!
Kilauea Iki crater
A short side trail leads through the Thurston (aka Nahuku) Lava Tube. There's a boardwalk leading into the tube, stairs leading out, and artificial lights inside. Interesting but pretty tame – and only 600 feet long. We'll have to find a longer, wilder lava tube elsewhere on the island.
Entering Thurston Lava Tube
Lava tube interior
Jana in the bowels of the earth
Continuing on the Kilauea Iki Trail after the lava tube, we descended through a rainforest to the crater floor, where we then walked across a solidified lava lake for a mile and a half before ascending on the far side of the crater. The return trail via a dirt path was very welcome after traipsing across the hard lava. Oh, our aching feet!
Crossing Kilauea Iki crater
'Ohi'a tree
Long hike across the crater
Finally, we emerge
Despite our tired feet, we did one more hike in the late afternoon, a mile out and back along the Devastation Trail. A paved path leads through a hillside of cinder that fell during the 1959 eruption of Kilauea Iki. At the far end is the Pu'upua'i Overlook.
Along the Devastation Trail
Pu'upua'i Overlook
Dinner: Surprisingly, little Volcano Village actually has a brewpub, Lanikai Brewing Co. They don't actually brew at this location, so this is NOT the southernmost brewery in the United States, but we'll keep looking until we find it. The pizza was fine, but the Pillbox Porter was excellent!
Quenching our thirst
After dinner, we returned to the park to see the lava glow after dark, but Kilauea wasn't very active tonight, and the glow was unimpressive. The view of the night sky was better. Hawaii is one of the best places in the world to observe the stars. We were even able to see the Milky Way!