Sight · Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
A coastal overlook above a village buried by lava.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes audio tourRecorded for this place
Kealakomo: The Village Beneath the Lava“Up ahead is Kealakomo Overlook, a quick stop with a wide view across the lava plain to the Pacific. I'd pause here even if you aren't hiking; you can take in the scale of the coastal flows without a long walk.”
Plays as you drive up to Kealakomo Overlook in the Parkwolf Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Kealakomo Overlook is a roadside viewpoint on Chain of Craters Road above Hawaiʻi’s Kaʻū coast. It opens across a broad lava plain to the Pacific. I’d keep it as a quick pause on the drive: the view makes the scale of the coastal flows easy to take in, and the old village story gives the black rock a human history.
There’s no food, drinking water, or fuel along Chain of Craters Road, so bring what you’ll need before heading down. The overlook is exposed to the coast, and wind can make a picnic less comfortable.
Both ʻaʻā and pāhoehoe are visible from the overlook. The ʻaʻā is jagged and dull black; the smoother pāhoehoe reads silver-gray. For a photo, use a wide frame with the lava slope in the foreground and the Pacific beyond it.
Kealakomo was a coastal village, likely abandoned after the 1868 earthquake and tsunami. Maunaulu’s eruptions from 1969 to 1974 buried parts of the village and added about 210 acres of new land. The shoreline in the view is part of that story.
Kealakomo means “the entrance path”: ke means “the,” ala means “path,” and komo means “entrance.”
Wildlife
600 sightingsHawaiian Goose (Nēnē)Most seen around 5 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGreen Sea TurtleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
36 sightingsHawaiian Hawk ('Io)Most seen around 11 AMSighting map
41 sightingsBlack NoddyMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
96 sightingsWhite-tailed TropicbirdMost seen around noonSighting map
24 sightingsHawai'i 'ElepaioMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Hawaiʻi Volcanoes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingNāulu Trail6.4 mi · 3.5 hr · At the trailheadA steady climb over rough lava links Kealakomo with the Nāpau junction.
ModeratePuʻuloa Petroglyphs Trail1.4 mi · 1.3 hr · 2.8 mi awayRough lava footing leads to Hawaiʻi’s largest petroglyph field.
ChallengingPuna Coast Trail to ʻĀpua Point10.8 mi · 6.5 hr · 2.8 mi awayA long lava coast walk ends beneath ʻĀpua’s coconut grove.
ChallengingKeauhou Trail15.2 mi · 8.5 hr · 3.1 mi awayLava ridges lead to a freshwater seep on the remote coast.
ChallengingMakaopuhi Crater Trail8.2 mi · 5 hr · 4.9 mi awayA long lava crossing opens at a steep, forested crater rim.
ModerateMaunaulu / Puʻuhuluhulu Trail2.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.9 mi awayCross 1969 lava flows to a forested cone and its viewing platform.
ChallengingNāpau Trail12.4 mi · 7.2 hr · 4.9 mi awayCross old lava rivers into a fern forest and a crater overlook.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayAlanui KahikoA short walk reveals road pavement trapped by lava.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayMuliwai a PeleA three-day lava river left its own channels and levees.
Scenic pullout · 3.1 mi awayMau Loa o MaunauluSee Maunaulu's glassy 1969–74 lava field from the road.Sight · 3.1 mi awayPuʻuloa PetroglyphsWalk rough lava to a field of more than 23,000 petroglyphs.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayMakaopuhi Crater OverlookKīlauea’s largest pit crater, with a blue lava lens on its wall.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayNāpau CraterReach Nāpau Crater by a strenuous hike over lava and through rainforest.
Sight · 4.4 mi awayHōlei Sea ArchThe sea arch is gone; the black-lava coast remains.
Campground · 4.6 mi awayʻĀpua PointA palm grove at the end of a long, exposed coastal hike.Parkwolf’s Hawaiʻi Volcanoes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
