Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Information

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is Hawaii's #1 visitor attraction. The park encompasses diverse environments that range from sea level to the summit of the earth's most massive volcano, Mauna Loa, at 13,677 feet. Over half of the 377 square mile park is designated wilderness and provides unusual hiking and camping opportunities. Within the park boundaries are the Thurston Lava Tube, a lava tube approximately 540 years old with a short hiking trail running through it, and the Kīlauea Caldera, skirted by the Volcano House Hotel, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and the Jaggar Museum.

Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, offers scientists insights on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and visitors' views of dramatic volcanic landscapes. Kīlauea and its Halemaumau caldera were traditionally considered the sacred home of Pele, and Hawaiians visited the crater to offer gifts to the goddess. The first western visitors to the site, English missionary William Ellis and American Asa Thurston, encountered Kīlauea in 1823.

On March 19, 2008, there was a small explosion in Halemaumau crater, the first explosive event since 1924 and the first eruption in the Kīlauea caldera since September 1982. Debris from the explosion was scattered over an area of 74 acres. The explosion covered part of Crater Rim Drive and damaged Halemaumau overlook. The explosion did not release any lava, which suggests to scientists that it was driven by hydrothermal or gas sources. This explosion event followed the opening of a major sulfur dioxide gas vent, greatly increasing levels emitted from the Halemaumau crater. The dangerous increase of sulfur dioxide gas has prompted numerous road closures within the park.

It is said in legend that if any volcanic rock or black sand is taken from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (or anywhere in Hawaii) that the person that took it will be cursed by the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele until it is returned. While purportedly an ancient Hawaiian belief, historians can trace this legend only to the mid-twentieth century, and it is widely believed to have been invented by park rangers to keep visitors from taking rocks. Nevertheless, the lobby of Kīlauea Military Camp (now a vacation area for military personnel) has a cabinet displaying rocks returned by people attempting to atone for the bad luck that has befallen them, and letters describing their predicaments.