| Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location in theHawaiian Islands | |
| Location | Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States |
| Nearest city | Hilo |
| Coordinates | 19°23′N155°12′W / 19.383°N 155.200°W /19.383; -155.200 |
| Area | 354,461 acres (1,434.45 km2)[1] |
| Established | August 1, 1916; 109 years ago (1916-08-01) |
| Visitors | 1,433,593 (in 2024)[2] |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | www |
 Interactive map of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park | |
| Criteria | Natural: viii |
| Reference | 409 |
| Inscription | 1987 (11thSession) |
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is anational park of the United States, located on theisland of Hawaiʻi in the state ofHawaii. The park encompasses two active volcanoes:Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, andMauna Loa, the world's largest shield volcano. The park provides scientists with insight into the development of theHawaiian Islands and access for studies ofvolcanism. For visitors, the park offers dramatic volcanic landscapes, glimpses of rare flora and fauna, and a view into the traditional Hawaiian culture connected to these landscapes.
The park was originally established on August 1, 1916, asHawaii National Park, which was then split into this park andHaleakalā National Park. In recognition of its outstanding natural values, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park was designated as anInternational Biosphere Reserve in 1980 and aWorld Heritage Site in 1987.[3] In 2012, the park was depicted on the 14th quarter of theAmerica the Beautiful Quarters series.
On May 11, 2018, the park was closed to the public in the Kīlauea volcano summit area, including the visitor center and park headquarters, due to explosions and toxicash clouds fromHalemaʻumaʻu crater, as well as earthquakes and road damage.[4][5] Portions of the park, including the visitor center, reopened to the public on September 22, 2018.[6][7]
As of early 2025, most of the park is open; however, some road segments and trails are still closed to visitors. The Jaggar Museum and buildings ofHawaiian Volcano Observatory were too damaged by the 2018 events to be used further and were torn down in 2024. Eruptive activity, ground collapses and explosions in the park ceased in early August 2018, and the lull in eruptive activity at Kīlauea continued[8] until an eruption on December 20, 2020, at the Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Since then, the crater has been intermittently eruptive with lava fountains and flows, though the activity has not been on the scale of the 2018 events.
The park includes 354,461 acres (553.85 sq mi; 1,434.45 km2) of land.[9]Around half of the park (130,790 acres (529 km2)) was designated theHawaii Volcanoes Wilderness area in 1978, providing solitude for hiking and camping.[10] Wilderness designation covers the northwestern extension of the National Park, includingMokuaweoweo, the summit of the volcanoMauna Loa. In the southwestern portion of the park, a large chunk of wilderness includes several miles of coastline and a small portion southeast of the visitors center. The park encompasses diverse environments from sea level to the summit of the Earth's most massive active volcano,Mauna Loa, at 13,679 feet (4,169 m). Climates range from lush tropical rain forests, to the arid and barrenKaʻū Desert.
Recently eruptive sites include the main caldera ofKīlauea and a more active but remote vent calledPuʻu ʻŌʻō.[11]
The main entrance to the park is from theHawaii Belt Road. TheChain of Craters Road leads to the coast, passing several craters from historic eruptions. The road had continued to another park entrance near the town ofKalapana, but that portion is covered by a lava flow, and is only available as an emergency evacuation route. The park's Kahuku District is accessible via Kahuku Road off Highway 11 near mile marker 70.
| Climate data for Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Headquarters, Hawaii, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1949–2015 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 79 (26) | 82 (28) | 80 (27) | 81 (27) | 81 (27) | 83 (28) | 87 (31) | 84 (29) | 85 (29) | 81 (27) | 80 (27) | 81 (27) | 87 (31) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 74.4 (23.6) | 74.7 (23.7) | 74.4 (23.6) | 74.1 (23.4) | 75.8 (24.3) | 76.2 (24.6) | 78.0 (25.6) | 78.8 (26.0) | 77.8 (25.4) | 77.7 (25.4) | 76.1 (24.5) | 75.0 (23.9) | 80.5 (26.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 68.3 (20.2) | 68.2 (20.1) | 67.5 (19.7) | 68.3 (20.2) | 70.5 (21.4) | 71.3 (21.8) | 72.7 (22.6) | 73.7 (23.2) | 73.2 (22.9) | 72.4 (22.4) | 70.3 (21.3) | 68.2 (20.1) | 70.4 (21.3) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 58.8 (14.9) | 58.7 (14.8) | 59.1 (15.1) | 60.1 (15.6) | 61.8 (16.6) | 62.8 (17.1) | 64.1 (17.8) | 64.8 (18.2) | 64.3 (17.9) | 63.7 (17.6) | 62.1 (16.7) | 59.9 (15.5) | 61.7 (16.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 49.4 (9.7) | 49.3 (9.6) | 50.7 (10.4) | 51.9 (11.1) | 53.0 (11.7) | 54.3 (12.4) | 55.6 (13.1) | 56.0 (13.3) | 55.4 (13.0) | 55.1 (12.8) | 54.0 (12.2) | 51.7 (10.9) | 53.0 (11.7) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 42.6 (5.9) | 42.2 (5.7) | 44.3 (6.8) | 45.9 (7.7) | 47.6 (8.7) | 49.5 (9.7) | 50.3 (10.2) | 50.7 (10.4) | 50.0 (10.0) | 49.5 (9.7) | 47.7 (8.7) | 44.2 (6.8) | 40.6 (4.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 34 (1) | 35 (2) | 38 (3) | 40 (4) | 42 (6) | 42 (6) | 45 (7) | 41 (5) | 45 (7) | 45 (7) | 41 (5) | 35 (2) | 34 (1) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 8.77 (223) | 8.15 (207) | 10.27 (261) | 9.16 (233) | 6.46 (164) | 5.10 (130) | 6.29 (160) | 5.91 (150) | 5.98 (152) | 8.19 (208) | 10.59 (269) | 11.37 (289) | 96.24 (2,444) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 21.9 | 20.4 | 25.3 | 26.3 | 25.1 | 25.4 | 25.8 | 25.3 | 23.9 | 24.5 | 26.3 | 25.0 | 295.2 |
| Source 1: NOAA[12] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: WRCC (mean maxima/minima 1981–2010)[13] | |||||||||||||
Kīlauea and itsHalemaʻumaʻucaldera were traditionally considered the sacred home of thevolcano goddessPele, andHawaiians visited the crater to offer gifts to the goddess.
In 1790, a party of warriors, along with women and children who were in the area, were caught in an unusually violent eruption. Many were killed and others leftfootprints in the lava that are still visible.[14]
The first western visitors to the site, EnglishmissionaryWilliam Ellis and AmericanAsa Thurston, went to Kīlauea in 1823. Ellis wrote of his reaction to the first sight of the erupting volcano:
″A spectacle, sublime and even appalling, presented itself before us. 'We stopped and trembled.' Astonishment and awe for some moments rendered us mute, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes riveted on the abyss below.[15]″
The volcano became a tourist attraction in the 1840s, and local businessmen such asBenjamin Pitman andGeorge Lycurgus ran a series of hotels at the rim.[16]Volcano House is the only hotel or restaurant located within the borders of the national park.
Lorrin A. Thurston, grandson of the American missionary Asa Thurston, was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the park after investing in the hotel from 1891 to 1904. William R. Castle first proposed the idea in 1903. Thurston, who then ownedThe Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, printed editorials in favor of the park idea. In 1907, theterritory of Hawaii paid for fifty members of Congress and their wives to visitHaleakalā and Kīlauea, including a dinner cooked over lava steam vents. In 1908, Thurston entertainedSecretary of the InteriorJames Rudolph Garfield, and another congressional delegation the following year. GovernorWalter F. Frear proposed a draft bill in 1911 to create Kilauea National Park for $50,000. Thurston and local landownerWilliam Herbert Shipman proposed boundaries, but ran into some opposition from ranchers. Thurston printed endorsements fromJohn Muir,Henry Cabot Lodge, and former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt.[17] After several attempts, the legislation introduced by delegateJonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole finally passed to create the park. House Resolution 9525 was signed byWoodrow Wilson on August 1, 1916. Hawaii National Park became the eleventh national park in the United States, and the first in a territory.[18]
As stated in the foundation document:[19]
The purpose of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is to protect, study, and provide access to Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, two of the world's most active volcanoes, and perpetuate endemic Hawaiian ecosystems and the traditional Hawaiian culture connected to these landscapes.
Within a few weeks, theNational Park Service Organic Act created theNational Park Service to run the system.[20] The park was officially renamed Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park after being split fromHaleakalā National Park on September 22, 1961.
An easily accessiblelava tube was named for the Thurston family. An undeveloped stretch of the Thurston Lava Tube extends an additional 1,100 ft (340 m) beyond the developed area and dead-ends into the hillside, but it is closed to the general public.[21]
.png)
About 1929,D. Howard Hitchcock made an oil painting ofPele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes. In 1966, the artist's son, Harvey, donated the painting to the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, where it was displayed in the visitor center from 1966 to 2005.[22] The painting was criticized for portraying the Hawaiian goddess as a Caucasian.[22]
In 2003, theVolcano Art Center announced a competition for a "more modern and culturally authentic rendering" of the goddess.[23] An anonymous judging panel of Native Hawaiian elders selected a painting byArthur Johnsen ofPuna, Hawaii from 140 entries.[24] In Johnsen's painting, the goddess has distinctly Polynesian features. She is holding a digging stick (ʻōʻō) in her left hand and the egg that gave birth to her younger sisterHiʻiaka in her right hand.[23] In 2005, the Hitchcock was replaced with Johnsen's painting.
In 2003, an additional 115,788 acres (468.58 km2) of the Kahuku Ranch were added to the park, the largest land acquisition in Hawaii's history. Now named the Kahuku District, the park was enlarged by 56% with the newly acquired land, which is west of the town ofWaiʻōhinu and east ofOcean View. The land was purchased for $21.9 million from the estate ofSamuel Mills Damon, with financing fromThe Nature Conservancy.[9]
On March 19, 2008, there was a small explosion in Halemaʻumaʻu, 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 (30 ha). A small amount of ash was also reported at a nearby community. The explosion covered part of Crater Rim Drive and damaged Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook. The explosion did not release any lava, which suggests to scientists that it was driven by hydrothermal or gas sources.[25]
This explosion event followed the opening of a majorsulfur dioxide gas vent, greatly increasing levels emitted from Halemaʻumaʻu. The dangerous increase of sulfur dioxide gas prompted closures of Crater Rim Drive between the Jaggar Museum south/southeast to Chain of Craters Road, Crater Rim Trail from Kīlauea Military Camp south/southeast to Chain of Craters Road, and all trails leading to Halemaʻumaʻu, including those from Byron Ledge, ʻIliahi (Sandalwood) Trail, and Kaʻū Desert Trail.[26]
In mid-May 2018, the Kīlauea District of the park was closed due to explosive eruptions at Halemaʻumaʻu, though the Kahuku District remained open. The Kīlauea District, including the visitor center, reopened to the public on September 22, 2018.[6][7] Eruptive activity, ground collapses and explosions in the park had ceased in early August. At the summit, seismicity and deformation are negligible. Sulfur dioxide emission rates at both the summit and the Lower East Rift Zone are drastically reduced; the combined rate is lower than at any time since late 2007. Earthquake and deformation data show no net accumulation, withdrawal, or significant movement of subsurface magma or pressurization as would be expected if the system was building toward a resumption of activity.[8]
A small water pond appeared in Halemaʻumaʻu in the summer of 2019. The pond deepened and enlarged into a small lake since it was first observed, measuring 160 feet (49 m) deep as of December 1, 2020. An eruption in the crater that began on December 20, 2020, boiled away the water lake completely and began to partially refill the crater with lava.[27]
As of 2025, most of the park is open, although some road segments, trails, and the Jaggar Museum of theHawaiian Volcano Observatory remain closed.[4] The ThurstonLava Tube (Nāhuku) was reopened to the public on February 21, 2020. Several largerockfalls were cleared and sensors were installed to monitor new cracks, along with improvements to water drainage and parking. The rockfalls and cracks had been caused by some of the 60,000 earthquakes recorded during the Kīlauea eruption.[28]
In 2022, the Mauna Loa volcano erupted, after many years.[29]
The park expanded in 2022 whenThe Trust for Public Land transferred its ownership of 16,451-acre Pohue Bay and surrounding land (6,657 ha) to the National Park Service.[30] Pōhue Bay is home to numerous well-preserved and significant Hawaiian cultural sites, including the largest recorded abraderquarry in Hawaiʻi, lava tubes, burial site, mauka-makai (mountain to sea) trails, fishing shrines, remains of once-thriving coastal villages, andpetroglyphs. A well-preserved portion of theAla Kahakai National Historic Trail or Ala Loa, an ancient coastal trail system, hugs the coastline.[31]
The Pōhue coastline is critical habitat for federally listed endangered Hawaiian species, including theHawaiian hawksbill turtle (honu‘ea) andHawaiian monk seal. Rare endemicopae'ula (red shrimp) live in the area'sanchialine ponds, and the bay is often frequented by native and migratory birds, including ʻiwa (frigate bird),koaʻe kea (white tailed tropic bird),kōlea (golden plover),'ulili (wandering tattler) and ʻaukuʻu (black crowned night heron).[31]
Several of theNational Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii are located within the park:
The main visitor center, located just within the park entrance at19°25′46″N155°15′25.5″W / 19.42944°N 155.257083°W /19.42944; -155.257083, includes displays and information about the features of the park. The nearbyVolcano Art Center, located in the original 1877 Volcano House hotel, is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places and houses historical displays and an art gallery.
The Thomas A. Jaggar Museum, now closed due to damage from the 2018 eruptive events, is located a few miles west on Crater Rim Drive. The museum featured more exhibits and a close view of Kīlauea's active ventHalemaʻumaʻu. The museum is named after scientistThomas Jaggar, the first director of theHawaiian Volcano Observatory, which adjoins the museum. The observatory itself is operated by theU.S. Geological Survey and is not open to the public.
The Kilauea Military Camp provides accommodations for U.S. military personnel.[32] Volunteer groups also sponsor events in the park.[33]
National park superintendents:[34][35]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromPōhue Bay preserved from mauka to makai - Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. U.S. National Park Service. July 12, 2022.
Media from Commons
Travel information from Wikivoyage of theNational Park Service| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
