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Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is 29 miles southwest of Hilo and 96 miles east of Kailua via SR 11. Established in 1916, the park now embraces nearly 333,000 acres on the southeastern coast. One of the world's most geologically active areas, it is home to Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes; at 13,677 feet above sea level, the latter is the world's most massive.
Hawaiian volcanoes are not the tall conical variety, such as Mount Fuji or Mount St. Helens, nor do they typically erupt in the mammoth explosions commonly associated with volcanism. The lava in Hawai'i, hotter and less viscous than that of more violent volcanoes, flows easily and tends to build broad, smooth mountains with shallow summit craters known as calderas. Eruptions begin in the caldera or below the summit along areas of geologic weakness called rift zones.
Lava flows in Hawai'i are of two basic types: pahoehoe, characterized by a smooth or ropy surface, and 'a'a, with a rough, chunky composition. Often a flow that begins as pahoehoe will change as its temperature and gas content decrease and the lava may become a'a.
In addition to their periodic fireworks, Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes feature groves of giant ferns, hardwood rain forests and such flora and fauna as ohelo berry bushes and apapane birds.
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