Sight · Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Kīlauea’s largest pit crater, with a blue lava lens on its wall.
Overview
Makaopuhi is a rim viewpoint over Kīlauea’s largest pit crater, a broad, forested depression on the volcano’s East Rift Zone. It’s a geological payoff, but getting here means a serious backcountry walk on the Nāpau Trail; skip it if you’re looking for an easy stop from the road.
Parkwolf’s verdictA crater worth making time forMap
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
Maunaulu: Walk to Puʻuhuluhulu“You're approaching the Maunaulu trailhead, where a walk to Puʻuhuluhulu gives you a view across the lava landscape from a wooded cone.”
Plays as you drive up to Makaopuhi Crater 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
Start at Maunaulu parking off Chain of Craters Road. The Nāpau Trail crosses rough, unstable lava and is strenuous; there’s no drinking water at its trailheads or anywhere along the route. The published distance to Nāpau Crater is for a farther destination, and current park information doesn’t give verified mileage for Makaopuhi, so confirm the approach and distance before committing.
Pit craters form when the ground fractures and subsides as a volcano shifts or expands. Makaopuhi is the largest of 17 identified along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone. From the rim, look across the forested walls to take in the scale of the depression.
The name means “eye of the eel,” a reference to a lens of bluish lava on the lower crater wall. Lava entered the crater several times but filled only its deeper half. For a photo, keep the dark lava slabs at the rim in the foreground; they give the broad crater view a sense of scale.
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
ChallengingKeauhou Trail15.2 mi · 8.5 hr · 2.6 mi awayLava ridges lead to a freshwater seep on the remote coast.
ChallengingMakaopuhi Crater Trail8.2 mi · 5 hr · 2.7 mi awayA long lava crossing opens at a steep, forested crater rim.
ModerateMaunaulu / Puʻuhuluhulu Trail2.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.7 mi awayCross 1969 lava flows to a forested cone and its viewing platform.
ChallengingNāpau Trail12.4 mi · 7.2 hr · 2.7 mi awayCross old lava rivers into a fern forest and a crater overlook.
ChallengingNāulu Trail6.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.3 mi awayA steady climb over rough lava links Kealakomo with the Nāpau junction.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayPuʻuhuluhulu OverlookA forested cone gives a close view of Maunaulu’s lava shield.
Sight · 2.2 mi awayNāpau CraterReach Nāpau Crater by a strenuous hike over lava and through rainforest.
Scenic pullout · 2.6 mi awayMau Loa o MaunauluSee Maunaulu's glassy 1969–74 lava field from the road.
Sight · 2.7 mi awayMuliwai a PeleA three-day lava river left its own channels and levees.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayKealakomo OverlookA coastal overlook above a village buried by lava.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayPauahi CraterA roadside look into a crater shaped by three eruptions.
Sight · 4.3 mi awayAlanui KahikoA short walk reveals road pavement trapped by lava.
Sight · 4.8 mi awayKoʻokoʻolau Crater LookoutA pit crater with a 1958 survey marker on its rim.Parkwolf’s Hawaiʻi Volcanoes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
