There
are three ways to explore Hawaii's active volcanoes
Perhaps of all the features that mark the Big Island's landscape
the Kileaua Volcano at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is the
most exciting and dynamic!
For over 20 years the fountains of fire have continued with
tremendous intensity and today Mt. Kileaua is the volcano with the
longest-lived rift activity in known Hawaiian volcano history. Its
ever present and relentless march to the sea has proved
unstoppable and has forever changed the landscape of the Big
Island.
Lost in the rolling and fiery fields of lava have been thousands
of archeological features and artifacts. Temple and heiau sites
have been covered. Petroglyph fields and villages have been
destroyed. Large stretches of the Chain of Craters Road have been
buried and it is estimated that every minute 130,000 gallons of
molten lava are forced through giant cracks and "puu's" in the
earths crust and flow their way to the ocean where they continue
to expand the acreage of the Big Island to make it an even bigger
Big Island.
Big Island Volcano Tours are very popular and are a "must" for
your Big Island vacation.
The most exciting tours may be via helicopter. Since the rift area
of Mount Kileaua is so large and in many cases so dangerous to
traverse by foot, the best way to truly see the full scope of this
natural phenomenon is from the air. Air tours can be by
helicopters which depart from either Kona or Hilo side or they can
be on a special sightseeing plane. Such planes in fact also depart
from nearby Maui on a two hour flight over the channel to view the
volcano before returning.
Any way you choose to do it the Big Islands volcano tours of the
active volcanoes are bound to be the highlight of your Big Island
adventure.
