Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

About

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park covers the summit and slopes of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on the southeast side of the Big Island. Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes on earth, and the park posts an alert on its website whenever an eruption is visible from the rim. The park never closes: it is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year (NPS, 2025). Entry costs $30 per private vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person arriving on foot or by bike, and the entrance station takes cards only, no cash (NPS fee page, updated December 2025). The America the Beautiful Access Pass, free for US citizens and residents with a permanent disability, covers the entrance fee.

Most people spend their time on Crater Rim Drive, which follows the edge of the Kīlauea caldera. Two stops sit close together near the start: the Steam Vents (Kūkamāhuākea), where groundwater meets hot rock and rises as vapor beside the road, and the Haʻakulamanu (Sulphur Banks) trail, where fumaroles leave yellow crystals on the ground. The park warns that this area releases sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, so people with heart or respiratory conditions, pregnant women, and infants should skip that walk. Kīlauea Overlook, further along the drive, is the best-known place to watch the caldera glow after dark when an eruption is under way.

Chain of Craters Road drops toward the coast and takes about two hours round trip by car, with pullouts at old lava flows and overlooks along the way and the Hōlei Sea Arch at the end. Back at the summit, Volcano House hotel sits on the crater rim, and the park notes it is the place to buy drinking water. Kīlauea Military Camp, also on Crater Rim Drive, has a cafe and a store.

The Kīlauea Visitor Center closed on February 17, 2025 for a renovation expected to take up to two years. The park film and evening programs are suspended until it reopens. Rangers and the park store now work from the Welcome Center at Kīlauea Military Camp, about 1.2 miles from the entrance station on Crater Rim Drive, so start there for maps and current eruption conditions. Evenings get cold at the summit, so bring a sweatshirt, and check the air quality forecast if volcanic smog (vog) affects you.

The village of Volcano sits just outside the park entrance and has bed-and-breakfasts, and the park runs two campgrounds, Nāmakanipaio and Kulanaokuaiki. A separate section of the park, the Kahuku Unit, lies on Highway 11 between mile markers 70 and 71, about 70 miles south of Hilo, and is open Thursday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (NPS, 2025).

Accessibility

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is partly wheelchair accessible. The park says plainly that barriers exist. The main overlook, several restrooms and about half of one summit trail work well from a wheelchair, most of the trail system does not, and the Kīlauea Visitor Center is closed until roughly 2027 for a renovation that includes full accessibility upgrades.

You arrive by car through the entrance station and drive between stops. During the closure, rangers and the park store operate from the Welcome Center at Kīlauea Military Camp, about 1.2 miles in on Crater Rim Drive. The park lists the Welcome Center, Volcano House and the Volcano Art Center as wheelchair accessible.

Kīlauea Overlook is reached by a short asphalt path from its parking area. From the Steam Vents (Kūkamāhuākea) lot, a 0.1-mile gravel trail leads to Wahinekapu (Steaming Bluff) and is passable in a wheelchair. Most of the Haʻakulamanu (Sulphur Banks) trail is accessible if you start from the Steam Vents lot rather than from the visitor center end; it mixes paved sections and boardwalk, and the 2024 guide noted some rough boards. Devastation Trail is paved from its parking lot to the trailhead, but the trail itself has steep sections and the park says wheelchair users will need assistance. The Crater Rim Trail near the overlook is a five-foot-wide asphalt path that is mostly flat.

Wheelchair accessible restrooms or vault toilets are at Kīlauea Iki, the Devastation parking lot, Maunaulu, the Kīpukapuaulu picnic area, Maunaloa Lookout and the turnaround at the end of Chain of Craters Road. Kulanaokuaiki campground has paved accessible paths at two campsites and vault toilets only.

Wheelchairs are loaned free at the Welcome Center, first come first served. An ASL interpreter for ranger talks or programs is available with at least 14 days notice; call (808) 985-6011. The park does not publish anything on assistive listening, captioning, audio description or braille signage, and it does not state a service animal policy on its pets page.

The Sulphur Banks area vents sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and the park advises anyone with a heart or respiratory condition to avoid it. Drinking water is sold only at Volcano House. The entrance station takes cards only, and the free Access Pass covers the fee.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Hawaii

• Queen Liliuokalani Park & Gardens (Hilo)
• Maunakea Summit (snow/fire contrast) (Hilo)
• Kona Brewing Co. Pub & Brewery (Hilo)
• Punaluu Black Sand Beach & Akaka Falls (Hilo)
• Maui Ocean Center (Wailuku)
• Bishop Museum (Honolulu)

Photo credits

• Steam rises from Halemaumau Crater with Mauna Loa volcano visible in the distance.: User: (WT-shared) OldPine at wts wikivoyage, Public domain (source)
• A paved path skirts a steaming volcanic vent surrounded by ferns and greenery.: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (source)
• Chain of Craters Road winds along the coast with volcanic steam rising from the shoreline.: Jos-uit-boston at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)