Kilauea Tours

Kilauea has been in a state of continuous eruption for all but two of the last forty years, making it the world's most active shield volcano and a living laboratory for volcanology.

The current eruptive phase, which began in December 2020 within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, fills the basin with a lava lake that rises and falls with the rhythm of magma supply from the mantle plume beneath the Pacific Plate. Thomas Jaggar established the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on the crater rim in 1912, and scientists have monitored every tremor, gas emission, and thermal shift since.

The summit caldera collapsed in 2018 during a lower East Rift Zone eruption that drained the lava lake and triggered thousands of earthquakes, reshaping the landscape visitors see today. The park reopened in stages, and by 2026 most trails have been cleared, though rangers still close sections when sulfur dioxide concentrations spike or new fissures open. Steam vents line the caldera floor, and the smell of sulfur dioxide is a constant companion on windless mornings. Kilauea tours from Hilo typically cover the eleven-mile drive to the summit, while kilauea tours from Kona cross the island's width and often combine volcano access with stops at black sand beaches formed by recent flows.

The Thurston Lava Tube, a 500-year-old tunnel carved by fast-moving pahoehoe lava, remains one of the most visited features. The tube is lit and paved, but the rainforest approach is unlit at dusk, and visitors who arrive after sunset walk through a canopy of tree ferns backlit only by headlamps. Kilauea volcano tours often include ranger-led talks at the Jaggar Museum overlook, where interpretive panels explain how basaltic magma with low silica content allows gases to escape gently, producing effusive eruptions rather than explosive ones. The Devastation Trail crosses a cinder field left by the 1959 Kilauea Iki eruption, where ʻōhiʻa lehua trees have begun their slow return through cracks in the aa lava. Evening glow from the active lava lake is visible from several overlooks when atmospheric conditions cooperate, though the park cautions that visibility depends on wind direction and gas venting patterns.