Volcanoes National Park

Famous for its title as “the most active volcano in the world,” and as being the home of Hawai’ian Goddess Pele, Kilauea has been erupting almost continuously since 1982.

Sulfuric fog rising from the caldera can cause a heavy haze glistening in the sunlight.

Steam vents and sulfur banks poor white vapor and gases from cracks in the rocky surface. Could this be the breath of Pele herself?

Magma beneath the crust creates these emissions as well as the tumultuous environment here in Volcanoes National Park. Throughout history, molten lava has spit, spilled, spewed and splattered across the mountainside, leaving a blackened landscape. Although able to change form, Pele’s true body is that of lava, with which she engulfs everything in her path.

Reminders of past forests are found in the molds from where trees once stood.

Where there were once fiery cauldrons of liquid rock, lakes of stone waves now remain, waiting to be explored.

Entire fields of lava have hardened into a beautifully bizarre scene. With time they have cracked and weathered, harboring courageous flora on this wind-swept plain.

Be sure not to let Pele’s conspicuous acts of destruction overshadow the subtle underlying current of creation.

The soul of the woodlands, seemingly swallowed by Pele, is reemerging from the rich volcanic soil to produce lush rainforests. The cool air and radiant growth surge with freshness, as if to sooth the burnt flesh of the earth.

Ferns grow with abundance.

They uncoil from fiddleheads too tiny to reveal the magnificence that waits within.

Their spring-green foliage abounds, from succulent ground cover,

to tree sized giants reaching 30 feet into the canopy above.

Even under the smallest of these Goliaths, it’s easy to let your imagination run wild.

People have been using this unique land for countless generations, pre-dating written history. Ancient petroglyphs mark many sacred sites and hint at a vibrant Hawai’ian culture.

Resting on the rim of the caldera, the Volcano House hotel possesses a heart of flames. Its hearth glows with a fire burning continuously since 1871.

Today, the land of this national park is full of sights that will catch your breath, trails leading to hidden beauty, and adventures waiting to happen.

Where the ocean slowly erodes the shore, a spectacular sea arch has been sculpted by pounding waves.

In the fragmented rocks along the trails, miniature olivine gems sparkle in the sunlight.

Tubes of lava have emptied like a hose, leaving cave-like passageways.

Their dark walls have been lit so you can explore them freely.

If you’re quiet, and very lucky, you just may get to see one the parks highly endangered residents. In this protected land, Nene geese can find sanctuary in these scrublands.

Pele’s intensity can be felt throughout this mystical land, not only in the starkness of the scorched and scalded,

but also in the fiery exuberance of all who live in this volatile splendor.