Maunaulu / Puʻuhuluhulu Trail

The Maunaulu / Puʻuhuluhulu Trail is a 2.5-mile out-and-back from the Maunaulu parking area across lava from the 1969–74 eruption to the forested Puʻuhuluhulu cinder cone, then back the same way. The NPS distance is round trip. Allow two to three hours: most of the walk is a rough traverse over lava, while the last quarter-mile climbs steeply to a concrete viewing platform. The full route gains about 210 feet. It is a good choice if you want to see the eruption landscape on foot and have time for its geology, not just a roadside overlook.

The marked trail begins about 100 yards beyond the parking area. Ahu—small stacked-rock markers—and numbered interpretive stops guide you over the lava. They are easy to lose against the broken surface, so keep watching ahead and stay on the marked route. Don’t move or build ahu to make a shortcut; this lava is fragile, and the route passes open fissures as well as sharp, unstable rock.

The approach shares a corridor with the much longer Nāpau Crater Trail. This walk turns toward Puʻuhuluhulu; continuing east is a separate backcountry trip, so don’t follow that route by mistake. A separate short lava-feature loop branches south near the register. It is an optional add-on and is not included in the 2.5-mile distance.

The final quarter-mile is steep. Puʻuhuluhulu is older than the surrounding 1969–74 flows and stayed wooded while lava covered the landscape around it. At the top, a concrete platform opens onto views of Mauna Ulu and, on clear days, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and the Pacific. For a photograph, include the green edge of the cone with the dark lava plain beyond; that contrast shows why this small patch of forest stands out.

The guide’s numbered stops make the ground easier to read. Pāhoehoe has folded, ropy surfaces; ʻaʻā breaks into jagged clinker. Fissures split the flows, and some open cracks sit beside the route. The 1969–74 eruption lasted nearly five years and sent about 350 million cubic meters of lava across this part of the park. It buried sections of the earlier Chain of Craters Road and partly or completely filled several craters.

Where lava flowed through forest, it cooled around tree trunks; when the trunks burned or the flow drained away, hollow lava-tree molds remained. They are delicate, so look without touching. The interpretive guide also tells a Hawaiian story of Pele and a hōlua sled-race dispute, alongside the instruction E nihi ka hele—walk carefully and pay attention.

Bring sturdy shoes, water, and protection from both sun and rain; there is no water on the route or at the trailhead. The lot is on a short spur from Chain of Craters Road. You can get the park’s interpretive guide at the trailhead or download it before you go, which helps match the numbered stops to the landscape. Dogs and other pets are not allowed on park trails; authorized service animals are the exception.