Hōlei Sea Arch - Chain of Craters Road - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Our February 2014 scenic drive along Chain of Craters Road ended at the Hōlei Sea Arch.  This is the temporary end of the road that once continued east out of the park and through the village Kalapana.  The road was covered by lava in 1969, reopened in 1979 and closed again in 1986 due to additional lava flows.  The sea cliffs in this area are over 40 feet high with the top of the arch rising nearly 60 feet out of the water.  Near the turnaround are vault toilets and a very small gift shop that includes a few snack items.  In addition, two shelters provide shade for a few picnic tables.  Paved accessible parking for six vehicles has also been provided.  All other vehicles must be parallel parked on the mountain side of the road.  A 180 foot trail across the lava leads to a walled overlook of the sea arch.  Numerous signs warn of the dangers of getting too close to the cliff edge and of falling on the uneven lava.  Back down the road a short distance are several paved pullouts on the ocean side of the road.  The nearest of these has another 200 foot trail down to a walled overlook of some sea caves along the eroding sea cliffs.

Accessible parking and toilets at the turnaround

2000 foot high Hōlei Pali

Path to the overlook from the road

A closer view of the path

Hōlei Sea Arch

A wave crashes into the sea cliff at Hōlei Sea Arch

60 foot sea cliffs east of  Hōlei Sea Arch

The blue waters of the Pacific Ocean seem so calm from a distance

Sea caves visible from the second overlook

The Pacific Ocean doesn't seem to be living up to its name

An entrance fee of $10 provides a seven-day pass to visit the park.  Other entrance options include the Hawai`i Tri-park Annual Pass for $25 for twelve month access to three parks in Hawai'i, an America the Beautiful Annual Pass for $80 for twelve months access to most national parks and forests or a Senior Pass for a one-time fee of $10 for those age 62 or over for access to most national parks and forests.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.

Hōlei Pali - Chain of Craters Road - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Our February 2014 scenic drive along Chain of Craters Road continued with the descent of Hōlei Pali, a one thousand foot cliff near the shore.  The pali has been sculpted by numerous lava flows over the years.  This has produced a wildly varying landscape from new lava to ferns, grasses and small trees depending on the dates of the lava flows.

Hōlei Pali

A roadside view of the pali during the descent to the coastal plain

A more distant view of the pali showing the 1972 lava flow

The coastal plain is also covered in lava from Mauna Ulu

An entrance fee of $10 provides a seven-day pass to visit the park.  Other entrance options include the Hawai`i Tri-park Annual Pass for $25 for twelve month access to three parks in Hawai'i, an America the Beautiful Annual Pass for $80 for twelve months access to most national parks and forests or a Senior Pass for a one-time fee of $10 for those age 62 or over for access to most national parks and forests.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.

Kealakomo - Chain of Craters Road - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Kealakomo provides an overlook and picnic tables at mile 9.8 on Chain of Craters Road in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.  The is also the beginning of the 4-mile Nāulu Trail to Makaopuhi Crater and a connection to the Nāpau Trail.  We stopped during our February 2014 visit to the park.

Picnic platform

Grassland, lava fields and the sea

The darker lava from the 1974 flow is more recent than the brown lava

Lava fields and the coastline

A mile past Kealakomo, lava covers a scenic overlook on the road

An entrance fee of $10 provides a seven-day pass to visit the park.  Other entrance options include the Hawai`i Tri-park Annual Pass for $25 for twelve month access to three parks in Hawai'i, an America the Beautiful Annual Pass for $80 for twelve months access to most national parks and forests or a Senior Pass for a one-time fee of $10 for those age 62 or over for access to most national parks and forests.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.

Muliwai ā Pele - Chain of Craters Road - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Continuing our February 2014 drive down Chain of Craters Road in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, we stopped at mile 7.4 to get one of the first views of the ocean as well as an unobstructed view of Mauna Ulu.  The views are courtesy mainly of the 1969 and 1974 lava flows that destroyed the forest and left behind wide open vistas.  A short trail to a raised platform provides an even better view.

1974 lava field and the Pacific Ocean

A closer view of the coastline

Mauna Ulu is almost three miles north

400 foot high Mauna Ulu

As the lava cooled, it formed these jagged piles of rubble

The forest continues to flourish beyond the lava fields

Rough, jagged pumice from the Mauna Ulu eruptions

An entrance fee of $10 provides a seven-day pass to visit the park.  Other entrance options include the Hawai`i Tri-park Annual Pass for $25 for twelve month access to three parks in Hawai'i, an America the Beautiful Annual Pass for $80 for twelve months access to most national parks and forests or a Senior Pass for a one-time fee of $10 for those age 62 or over for access to most national parks and forests.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.

Mauna Ulu - Chain of Craters Road - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Our fifth stop on Chain of Craters Road in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park during our February 2014 visit was along a side road to the left at approximately mile marker 3.7.  This was once the main road, but it was covered by lava from Mauna Ulu in 1969 and again in 1974.  Mauna Ulu, a shield volcano, rose nearly 400 feet during its brief five year eruptive history.  Its lava flows covered over 11,000 acres and added 250 acres to Hawai'i Island.

A large parking area and vault toilets have been added as this is the trailhead for the seven mile Nāpau Trail across the open lava to Pu'u Huluhulu, Mauna Ulu, Makopuhi and Nāpau craters.  A much shorter ¼ mile loop trail leads to an eruptive fissure from 1969.  Lava spouted from the fissure and created a series of cinder and spatter ridges along its northern edge.

The 1974 lava flow encroached on part of the already closed road

The pre-1969 Chain of Craters Road...

...was closed by a massive lava flow from Mauna Ulu

Standing on the 1969 lava flow while looking at the edge of the January 1974 lava flow and beyond to Mauna Ulu

The 1974 lava flow is about 20 feet thick at the edge

Cinder and spatter domes created by the fissure

The 1969 eruptive fissure is now a haven for plant life

Cinder and spatter mound

Mauna Ulu from the top of the cinder and spatter ridge

Lava trees stand where a forest once grew

Another view of the fissure from its ridge

Steam still rises from several vents on Mauna Ulu

Portions of the ridge are twenty feet high

Life along the fissure

A face seems to appears in the cinder and spatter ridge

Ferns and trees dominate the plant life in the protected fissure

A pair of lava trees

Mauna Ulu, black 1974 lava and brown 1969 lava

Flow patterns in the 1969 lava

A possible lava tube in the 1969 pumice

Each layer of lava has a unique chemical composition

Lava trees, the fissure and the spatter mounds

An entrance fee of $10 provides a seven-day pass to visit the park.  Other entrance options include the Hawai`i Tri-park Annual Pass for $25 for twelve month access to three parks in Hawai'i, an America the Beautiful Annual Pass for $80 for twelve months access to most national parks and forests or a Senior Pass for a one-time fee of $10 for those age 62 or over for access to most national parks and forests.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.