Continuously active shield volcano with a summit caldera and frequent eruptions that shape the surrounding landscape and cultural heritage.
General Information
Best visited during daylight for safety
Night visits may offer views of lava glow when active
Motorcycle: $25
Individual (on foot or bicycle): $15
Pass valid for 7 days
Children under 16: Free
How to Get There
From Kīlauea Visitor Center, follow Crater Rim Drive west to reach viewpoints and trailheads around the summit caldera.
Overview
Kīlauea is an active shield volcano on the southeastern shore of the Big Island and historically the most active of the island’s five volcanoes. Between 210,000 and 280,000 years old, it has a large summit caldera and two active rift zones, one extending 78 miles east and the other 22 miles west. Once thought to be a satellite of Mauna Loa, it is now the current eruptive center of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the heart of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. A new eruption began at Halemaʻumaʻu crater on September 29, 2021.
Recent Eruptions
- 2008–2018: Halemaʻumaʻu held an active lava lake.
- 1983–2018: near-continuous eruptions from the eastern rift zone destroyed the towns of Kalapana and Kaimū and their renowned black sand beach in 1990.
- 2018: activity shifted to lower Puna, where lava from two dozen vents flowed into the ocean in three places, destroyed 716 dwellings, filled Kapoho Bay and extended land nearly a mile into the sea. Meanwhile the summit lava lake drained and explosive collapses sent ash 30,000 feet high, closing the Kīlauea section of the national park for months.
- December 2020–May 2021: a new lava lake, 229 meters deep, replaced a water lake in Halemaʻumaʻu.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kīlauea", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
