Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park United States

Legendary

Take in the dramatic volcanic landscape of two active volcanoes.

Photo by Scot Nelson

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You can visit a park where new land is still being made. Lava flows here have added hundreds of acres to the island, meaning the map of Hawai'i literally changes.

The park sits on Hawai'i Island, the largest and youngest island in the chain. Locals usually call it the Big Island.

Two active volcanoes anchor the park. Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and Mauna Loa is the largest shield volcano anywhere.

Mauna Loa rises more than 13,000 feet above the sea. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, it's even more enormous than that.

The park became official on August 1, 1916. That was three years before Hawai'i had statehood and four years before the National Park Service itself existed.

A Hawaiian delegate to Congress named Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole introduced the bill. President Woodrow Wilson signed it.

Originally it was called Hawaii National Park and included Haleakalā on Maui too. Those were split into separate parks in 1961.

For Native Hawaiians, this place is sacred. Kīlauea is the home of Pele, the volcano goddess, and people still leave offerings at the crater rim.

Ancient rock carvings called petroglyphs cover parts of the lava fields. The Puʻuloa site holds one of the largest collections of them in the islands.

The park earned global recognition too. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1987.

In 2012, the park appeared on a United States quarter as part of the America the Beautiful series. The design shows lava erupting from Kīlauea's east rift.

Drive the Chain of Craters Road, which winds nearly 19 miles from the summit down to the coast past old craters and lava flows. Walk through Nāhuku, a tunnel carved by flowing lava and now lined with ferns. Visit after dark if Kīlauea is active, when the glow from the crater lights up the clouds above it.