Kilauea Iki Trail Hiking (Volcanoes NP)

Description and Directions >>

Description:
The Kilauea Iki Trail is a 4-mile loop trail located in Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park. The trail traverses through lush jungle vegetation down into "Little Kilauea" crater, currently a "non-active" volcano. The trail continues across the black lava crater floor, where new tropical growth can be seen, along with steam vents. The trail then makes it's way back up into the forest to the rim of the crater, where visitors can see magnificent views of Kilauea Iki and big Kilauea in the distance.

Activities:
hiking, sightseeing

Directions:
This trail is located within the Volcanoes National Park. From the Kilauea Visitors Center, turn left onto Crater Rim Drive. Follow to the Kilauea Iki Overlook and park. Follow the signs to the trailhead.

Story Date 6/17/2004
Publish Date 11/18/2004

Story Perspectives >>

According to Mikala: The Kilauea Iki Trail has to be one of the most unusual and spectacular trails I have ever been on. More on that in a minute...

First of all, for our trip to Volcanoes National Park, we stayed in a wonderful vacation rental house just outside the park, called 'Hale Mahinui.' I would highly recommend this for a couple or small family. The house is just beautifully designed and surrounded by tropical forest and gardens. It is very private, and has a nice jacuzzi on the deck. This was great for our sore muscles after long hikes. See their website at http://www.halemahinui.com.

Now back to the hike. What a tremendous experience. The hike down to the crater of Kilauea Iki is through lush tropical rainforest. It overlaps you with greenery. Along the way, you can see the crater floor down below (from sheer drops close to the trail). Once you get to the bottom, you immediately see the contrast between the lush green forest and lava-paved volcanic floor. Amazing! I had expected the trail on the black rock floor to be very hot, with the sun beating down on us. But as soon as we entered onto the floor, a very nice, cool breeze was flowing from the far side.

As we hiked along, I noticed huge uprisings of volcanic rock, with large cracks between them. This was proof of the powerful nature of lava and the volcanic process. Further along, we saw flowering bushes breaking through the hard volcanic rock. I looked at this new growth toward the lush tropical forest surrounding the crater. This is why I consider this one of the best hikes. I was constantly thinking of the cycle of life. It was mind boggling and fascinating to think that all the Hawaiian islands had started off as dark and massive volcanic rock. One day, life began to form. It grew into some of the most lush and beautiful vegetation ever seen. And then, sometime in the future, Goddess Pele decides to take over again, destroying the forest with new lava. Fresh volcanic rock covers everything. Yet, one day, life begins to form again. What an awesome reality. It makes you really appreciate nature and life.

As we hiked toward the center of the crater, I noticed steam coming from many vents surrounding us. As I neared these craters, I could feel the heat emanating from the openings. Kind of scary, but fascinating. We stopped in the middle to eat lunch. There were hardly any people on the trail. Most of the time, we were completely alone.

We continued to the far end of the crater and entered back into the lush rainforest. It is a constant climb from here to the top. We stopped often to "enjoy the view." It was great, because the view actually was pretty wonderful. Once we reached the top, we took a side trip to the Thurston Lava Tube. This is a very short walk through a lava tube. Pretty interesting, but we were surrounded by busloads of people. That was kind of annoying, having just come from such a private hike in the crater.

After this hike, we were somewhat sore. It was sure nice to head back to our 'house' and enjoy a relaxing soak in the hot tub!