Sight · Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
See Kīlauea Iki from beside the cone its eruption built.
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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
Puʻupuaʻi: A Quick View into Kīlauea Iki“Puʻupuaʻi Overlook is ahead, beside the cinder cone whose name means gushing hill. Stop here for a wheelchair-accessible view down into Kīlauea Iki, with its broad dark floor and forested rim.”
Plays as you drive up to Puʻupuaʻi Overlook in the Parkwolf Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Tour Guide.
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“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
Puʻupuaʻi Overlook is a roadside viewpoint on Crater Rim Drive, beside the cinder cone of the same name. It gives you a view down into Kīlauea Iki. This is a quick way to see the crater from above; exploring farther means continuing on foot from this area. Devastation Trail starts here, and hikers can continue toward Byron Ledge, Kīlauea Iki and Nāhuku.
Puʻupuaʻi means gushing hill. During the 1959 Kīlauea Iki eruption, lava fountains rose about 1,900 feet. Cinders cooled in the air and fell back to build the cone beside the overlook. Keep to the overlook; the cinder cone's summit is not open for hiking.
There is parking and interpretive information at the overlook, which is wheelchair accessible. A nearby chemical toilet is marked as not wheelchair accessible, so access differs between the viewpoint and restroom.
Point into Kīlauea Iki and include its broad dark floor and forested rim; that shows the crater's scale and connects the view to the eruption that built Puʻupuaʻi.
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
EasyKeanakākoʻi Crater Trail2 mi · 1.3 hr · 0.4 mi awayAn easy walk on a former road reaches a 115-foot crater.
ModerateUēaloha (Byron Ledge) Trail2.2 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayOpen cinder, forested ledge, and views of Puʻupuaʻi.
EasyDevastation Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 0.4 mi awayA short paved walk through cinder from Kīlauea Iki’s 1959 eruption.
ModerateKīlauea Iki Trail3.3 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.6 mi awayCross a solidified lava lake beneath Puʻupuaʻi
EasyEscape Road Trail3.8 mi · 2 hr · 0.8 mi awayA gentle forest descent from Nāhuku toward Mauna Ulu.
EasyNāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube) Trail0.4 mi · 30 min · 0.8 mi awayA short ferny walk leads into a 500-year-old lava tube.
ModerateHalemaʻumaʻu Trail1.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayA short rainforest descent opens onto Kīlauea’s caldera floor.
EasyKūpinaʻi Pali (Waldron Ledge) Trail1.2 mi · 54 min · 1.4 mi awayA short paved route to a broad caldera view
Sight · 0.6 mi awayKīlauea Iki OverlookA quick rim stop above the crater of 1959's towering lava fountains.Sight · 0.9 mi awayKūpinaʻi Pali (Waldron Ledge)A broad Kaluapele view along the cracked, abandoned Crater Rim road.
Sight · 0.9 mi awayNāhuku Lava TubeA rainforest walk opens into a lava tunnel.
Sight · 1 mi awayLuamanu and July 1974 FlowA crater holds the mark of lava that later drained away.
Sight · 1 mi awayEruption Viewing near Keanakākoʻi OverlookA two-mile round trip to a closer Halemaʻumaʻu view.
Ranger station · 1 mi awayBackcountry Permit OfficeThe stop for backcountry permits and a ranger safety briefing.
Entrance station · 1.2 mi awayHawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Entrance StationSave your pass offline; reception is limited at the entrance.Sight · 1.2 mi awayKeanakākoʻi CraterA short old-road walk reaches a crater layered with human history.Parkwolf’s Hawaiʻi Volcanoes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
