Hey everyone it's Madalyn and this video is all about what to expect when visiting
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the big island of Hawaii. Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park is a beautiful park with so much to offer. From stunning ocean views
to hiking down into volcanic craters, the biggest highlight of this park is looking
down into Kilauea itself. If you're lucky enough to visit when Kilauea is erupting,
it is an absolute awe-inspiring sight we loved our visit to this park and cannot wait to go back
we feel there are just a few things you should know before heading out to this incredible park
if you find this video helpful be sure to give it a like and if you want to see more content
like this hit that subscribe button if you stick around until the end of the video we'll discuss
our favorite things from our own trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Let's get started know
before you go Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours a day which allows for optimal
nighttime volcano viewing and stargazing. The entrance fee to the park is $30 per vehicle
as always if you visit national parks regularly throughout the year, we recommend purchasing an
America the Beautiful annual pass. Make sure you stop off at the visitors center when you enter the
park and ask the rangers where the best views of the lava flows are that day also ask them about
any closures in the park. The nae nae is the Hawaiian goose and they are heavily protected
in Hawaii do not feed these birds and keep an eye out for them when driving through the park
reading up on Hawaiian culture and history will only enhance your enjoyment of this park we loved
learning about Pele the Hawaiian volcano deity and the creator of Hawaii's volcanic landscapes. Pele
has made her home in Kilauea on the big island and she's responsible for the volcanic activity.
Things to do. Kilauea crater this should probably be your first stop when entering
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park there are several viewing points along crater rim
drive where you can stop off and view down into the crater if kilauea is active when
you visit we recommend returning after dark and viewing the crater from the devastation trail
seeing the lava glow at night cannot be missed on your trip thurston lava tube 500 years ago lava
poured through this now empty cave tunnel this one mile round trip hike will take you through
the rainforest and the lava tube itself it's incredible that the lava once flowed steadily
in this place could reach temperatures of 2000 degrees the lava tube is lit up from 8 am to 8 pm
the volcano house the volcano house is the lodge located inside hawaii volcanoes national park they
have a restaurant and lounge that looks out into the kilauea crater and from the back patio you
can get amazing views it's worth a quick stop to see the sights grab some lunch and swing by the
gift shop steam vents and sulfur banks you'll feel like you're walking through yellowstone national
park instead of hawaii volcanoes when visiting the sulfur banks you can walk along boardwalks
and take in the steamy sulfury smells of the bubbling volcano underneath kilauea icky crater
hiking in and around the kilauea icky crater is a great way to view down into and experience kilauea
we walked along the crater rim trails and got a fantastic view of the crater floor below you
can also hike down into the crater and enjoy the hardened surface that was once an active lava lake
we didn't hike down on this trip but we definitely would next time chain of craters drive chain of
craters drive is one of the most beautiful drives we took on our trip to hawaii you drive past
several lava flows that have made their way down from kilauea to the ocean you can stop
off at various viewing spots along the 19 mile drive and take in incredible views of the ocean
you can also stop off at the pu'uloa petroglyphs and wind your way to the hole sea arch at the end
of the road hole sea arch the hole sea arch is a natural arch that was created from an ancient
lava flow meeting the ocean the landscape along the ocean is very delicate here and
someday the crashing waves of the pacific will erode away this beautiful formation stargazing
volcanoes national park is an absolutely incredible place to stargaze i don't think we've
seen as many stars in our life before seeing them in this park stargazing above an active volcano is
an experience we will never forget on the night we visited you could see venus and jupiter as well as
countless constellations where to stay the volcano house is the lodge located within hawaii volcanoes
national park they have 33 rooms a restaurant and lounge and incredible caldera views of kilauea
below this is a popular place to stay so booking in advance is important there are two drive-in
campgrounds located in volcanoes national park namakani payoh has bathrooms and water and cabins
available for rental as well kula naokua iki is a smaller campground that has no water on site
right outside the park the village of volcano has both hotels and ample rental options
hilo is located about 45 minutes away from hawaii volcanoes national park and has several hotel
options if you're staying on the kona side of the island it would take you about two hours to
get into the park in the description below we'll put a link to our video discussing where to stay
on the big island as i mentioned at the start of the video we'll now discuss our own trip to hawaii
volcanoes national park so what would you do if you went back to hawaii volcanoes national park
well for me it's bring a larger viewing scope because we were lucky enough to be there while
kilauea was erupting and i didn't know this until i went but on this earth i want to see as many
volcanoes erupting safely as possible because it is unlike anything else you've ever seen
we were lucky enough that some other people let us use their scope to look down into the caldera
and to just see the the lava spewing out of it was absolutely unreal and i could have stayed
there for hours watching that volcano erupt yes looking down into the volcano and seeing the lava
flowing was an absolutely incredible experience and if if and when we go back i'd actually really
like to hike down into the crater there's areas in which you can do that and we can see people from
up above on the crater rim trail we could see people down below hiking and we really didn't
do that much hiking in this park and if we go back that is definitely something i want to add
to the list because i'm a little sad we missed out on that if you want to see more from our
adventures in hawaii click right here don't forget to subscribe and we'll catch you on the next one