| Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - Kilauea Crater (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - Kilauea Crater
Photographer Description of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - Kilauea Crater
The Kilauea Caldera is vast, about 1.5 miles across. The floor is layered with lava flows from different eras, like a series of spilt cans of paint (you can have any colour so long as it is black). The Kilauea Overlook and the viewing platform from the Jaggar Museum offer the best viewing points from which to take it in. There are a numerous walking trails that cross the floor of the caldera, but unfortunately I did not have time to explore.Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - Kilauea Crater - Further Information
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park contains many craters and lava flows. It is one of the main tourist attractions on Hawaii Island.Kilauea Volcano sits like a bulge on the flanks of the much larger Mauna Loa volcano of Hawaii. Kilauea has it's own separate lava vent system which extends some 60km into the earth. The Kilauea Crater is at a height of 1222m, often lost among low lying mists and clouds.
The main visitor centre sits on the rim of Kilauea Crater, as does the Jaggar Museum. Visitors can drive all around Kilauea Crater following Crater Rim Road which passes the Jaggar Museum and Thurston Lava Tube. Chain of Craters Road branches off this and winds it's way past a number of other craters to the sea. It terminates where lava flowed over the road. Close to this point lava enters the sea through a series of 11km long lava tubes.
Address:
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
P.O. Box 52
Hawai'i National Park,
Hawaii Island
HI 96718-0052