Visitor center · Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Start here to plan a day around Kīlauea summit.
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
Kīlauea Visitor Center Area: Art in the Old Hotel“You're approaching the Kīlauea Visitor Center area, where the nearby Volcano Art Center Gallery makes a good short stop.”
Plays as you drive up to Kīlauea Visitor Center 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
Kīlauea Visitor Center is Hawaiʻi Volcanoes’ only visitor center, on Crater Rim Drive West at Kīlauea summit. It’s an orientation stop for ranger advice and the park store, which carries books, posters and other educational material. If you’re still choosing where to go, start here; the rangers can help you make a plan around the summit.
The old space had become too small and outdated for the roughly 1.5 million people who visit the park each year. Its renovation expands the interior and store, moves larger restrooms to the east end and adds a covered hālau, a Hawaiian gathering place, on the west. The hālau is visible from Crater Rim Drive West, and the roundabout provides direct access to the center.
KVC is the park’s only visitor center partly because Jaggar Museum, the other summit museum, was removed after damage from Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption and summit collapse. New interpretation in English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is being developed for the renovated center, carrying the volcano’s story in both languages.
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
EasyKūpinaʻi Pali (Waldron Ledge) Trail1.2 mi · 54 min · 0.1 mi awayA short paved route to a broad caldera view
ModerateHalemaʻumaʻu Trail1.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA short rainforest descent opens onto Kīlauea’s caldera floor.
EasyHaʻakulamanu (Sulphur Banks) Trail1.2 mi · 36 min · 0.7 mi awayA short boardwalk walk past yellow sulfur and rising steam.
ModerateKīlauea Iki Trail3.3 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayCross a solidified lava lake beneath Puʻupuaʻi
EasyKeanakākoʻi Crater Trail2 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.6 mi awayAn easy walk on a former road reaches a 115-foot crater.
ModerateUēaloha (Byron Ledge) Trail2.2 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayOpen cinder, forested ledge, and views of Puʻupuaʻi.
EasyEscape Road Trail3.8 mi · 2 hr · 1.6 mi awayA gentle forest descent from Nāhuku toward Mauna Ulu.
EasyDevastation Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 1.6 mi awayA short paved walk through cinder from Kīlauea Iki’s 1959 eruption.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayVolcano Art Center Gallery (1877 Volcano House)Local art fills a small gallery inside Kīlauea’s 1877 hotel.
Lodging · 0.1 mi awayVolcano HouseA historic hotel on Kīlauea’s rim, with the caldera at the table.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayKaʻaueaA raised hula platform and traditional hale facing Halemaʻumaʻu.
Entrance station · 0.2 mi awayHawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Entrance StationSave your pass offline; reception is limited at the entrance.Sight · 0.3 mi awayHaʻakulamanu (Sulphur Banks)A short walk to yellow sulfur, altered rock and rising steam.
Ranger station · 0.3 mi awayBackcountry Permit OfficeThe stop for backcountry permits and a ranger safety briefing.Sight · 0.5 mi awayKūpinaʻi Pali (Waldron Ledge)A broad Kaluapele view along the cracked, abandoned Crater Rim road.
Sight · 0.7 mi awayKūkamāhuākea Steam Vents and WahinekapuA short walk pairs summit steam with a view into Kīlauea's caldera.Parkwolf’s Hawaiʻi Volcanoes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
