Well worth the two hour drive from Kona for a day trip. If we were to come back to Kona I would plan ahead to stay the night in the park at the Volcano House. It is accessible for toddlers from the parking lot. We had lunch in the on-site restaurant with great views of the crater at the volcano house. The magma tube is not to be missed.

It’s a place you don’t want to miss! Go early to avoid crowds! Limited gas station as well so plan and fill tank when you can ! We started with visiting the lava tube - this place has limited parking so go early ! Then we drove across chain of craters road - this has multiple view points for you to explore ! The road sides are full of lava rocks! The road leads to Holei Sea Arch , it has spectacular view of the sea shore rocks ! Then we saw amazing steam vents and smoke coming out at Kilauea visitor center ! This is where you see sulphur deposit and steam venting out ! Must must visit !

My husband and I recently visited Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. It was a very well taken care of park! Facilities were clean! Rangers were knowledgeable and helpful! Views were amazing! Highly recommend it if you are interested in volcanoes!

Hawaii Volcano NP was so neat. It was not erupting during our visit. The visitor center is a good first stop. A ranger-led tour down to the Kilauea caldera from the visitor center is recommended. Pop-up showers and heavy wind are to be expected so be prepared. The hike through the lava tube is cool and the hike to the Kilauea Iki crater is nice but not accessible (it is a bit of a hike) and leads to a path to walk across the crater. A drive down Chain of the Craters road is neat as the landscape is covered by lava so that is different. We drove to the end to the Holei Sea Arch and then drove back up. There are not a lot of food options in Volcano Village but I recommend the hardware store for drinks and snacks (better selection and prices than the general store),

Volcanoes National Park is a fascinating place. New Zealand has a lot of geothermal and volcanic activity but Kīlauea is so different to the volcanoes we have seen before. We walked Sulphur Banks, Crater Rim Trail and Thurston Lava Tube. Such diverse landscape and it was really interesting learning about the 2018 eruption. After about 4 hours of exploring, we were ready for food. We should have tried to get a table at Volcano House because everywhere else in the park had closed at 1pm. I understand it was low season but the part was still FULL of visitors. In Volcano the only place open was Lava Rock Cafe. Service was slow since they were understandably busy and the food was fine, not that we had any other choices. Overall the park is great and we could have explored for longer. The food options clearly need to stay open for longer, even in low season.

Prepare for a full day and start early. We entered the park at 9am. We pulled up to the window, after the car in front of us paid with the staff member, only to find a QR code on the window. It started our trip on a wrong foot because we intended to buy a national park pass, but that wasn’t an option on the link the QR code took us. We skipped the visitor center to head straight to the lava tube. We had no problems finding a parking spot, but any later in the day and parking would have been hard to find. We had great timing and didn’t run into any parking issues. I’m glad we saved the visitors center until the end of our visit. We used the Shaka app and really enjoyed the history, stop suggestions, and stories. Lots of porta-potties and out houses along the route. Bring lots of snacks and water!

I enjoy this different kind of national park. It is a 2 hour drive from Kona and 45 minutes from Hilo. The visitor center has a movie, gift shop and exhibits. Thurston Lava tube is a highlight. Jaggard museum is fenced off as it is being demolished. I like Chain of Craters Road which snakes by several past lava flows and striking scenery to the ocean. However the main attraction, Holei Sea Arch is not accessible. At this time there are no active flows. Best view of the crater is Volcano House.

One day really isn't enough to spend here but if that's all you have, it's definitely worth a visit! Not sure if this is typical but it was incredibly windy when we were there. Like blow you off your feet windy. We hiked to see the pteryoglyphs which was very interesting. It's an uneven walk about 0.75 miles and the wind made it even more challenging. My elderly mother sat that one out.

This was a wonderful experience, including the steam vents, and views of the volcano crater. We took the road to the right and explored the trails and the many viewing areas. We went to the end of the road, and at 4000' elevation it was 40 degrees with very high winds. So bring a coat to be able to savor the views there for more than a minute. Signage was rather weak in some areas, so there was often a coin flip as to which path to take. Still full stars for this !

Went and experienced this amazing park. Highly recommend a guided tour then do a helicopter ride after. Walking on the lava rock and going in the tubes is such a cool experience. The different weather throughout the park is a cool experience too.