Kilauea Iki

This awesome 4 mile looped hike takes you to the bottom of a crater and provides beautiful views while it takes you through changing scenery and varying temperatures.

You can start this hike in a counter-clockwise direction at Kilauea Iki overlook, number 4 on your map. You'll find more available parking here during peak times. You can start your hike clockwise from Nahuku, number 3 on your map, which is also the same location as the Thurston Lava Tube. Due to the popularity of the Lava Tube, parking here can be difficult. The distance between the two parking lots is .5 miles.

We started our hike at Nahuku around noon in December. This moderate level trail started with a chilly walk through a forest of ferns down stairs and over roots with muddy spots throughout. Once you reach the bottom, you can walk across the crater and over lava rocks. The weather at this point was windy. Once we reached the end of the crater and climbed our way back up to the trail, we took a break and had some lunch overlooking the crater.

From this point. It was a 2 mile hike up to the top. The weather changed once again, and my jacket was no longer needed.

Make sure you bring or wear the following:
-Layered clothing to adapt to the varying temps
-Hiking shoes with good traction
-Hat
-Water
-Snacks or lunch
-Sunscreen

Restrooms are available at both starting points, but the overlook location are porta potties. I suggest using the restrooms at the lava tube.

We left the location around 2pm and it was pretty crowded. Best to arrive by noon to avoid crowds.



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The hike was a loop and took about 2 hours. Weather can change suddenly from sunny to pouring rain. We were glad that we had our rain coat on. Very rewarding hike and interesting to see the lava rocks up close in person.

Great hike that lets you descend and ascend through a tropical forest, and walk the full length of a volcanic crater, guided by cairns, here called Aha. I ended the crater walk by Thurston Lava Tube, so I walked that, then hiked back to the Kilauea Iki trailhead. The whole walk took me about 80 minutes moving, with a few stops to take pictures. There's an outhouse at the start and by the lava tube, but none along Kilauea Iki, so it makes sense to stop off when you can. My watch said the elevation change was about 900 feet. Starting from here and going counter-clockwise, the descent is steep, on stairs, and the ascent is fairly sloped and gradual, not stairs.

Visited 7/4/2021

Don't miss this trail ... it's a must! Just be prepared for a bit of a challenge, especially if you bring your little ones with you. It's about 3 1/2 miles (to 4 miles incl. the tubes) round-trip. Much easier to walk is the Devastation Trail to see the flowing lava after Sept. 29, 2021 at Halema'uma'u Crater. Add that to your must-see and do list while on the Big Island!

If you are crunched for time and looking for just one thing to do in Volcanoes National Park, I'd say to do this hike. It's a moderate level hike with plenty of switchbacks and little bit of a steep level change. I recommend doing the loop counter-clockwise so that you can check out the Thurston Lava Tube in the end (which is a nice relaxing break). I took my time during the hike, and the trail loop plus the Thurston Lava Tube took me a little over 3 hours.

The earlier you get here the better. Not just for the parking, but for a better experience. I got here early and had the lava lake pretty much to myself. By the time I got to my car, crowds of people were just starting at the trailhead. Note that there is a bathroom at the trailhead parking area.

There is so much to see and you'll keep discovering new things along the way. The path in the lava lake is easy to follow. Just follow the neat pile of rocks! We experienced some rain along the way which was incredible. It was truly a highlight of our trip and something I'd want to do again the next time we're on the island.

Short, beautiful hike overlooking Kilauea Iki. You can hike from the lower lot along this trail towards Thurston Lava Tube.

We were excited to be able to do this hike on a beautiful day when we were at the park this time (it was cold, rainy, and windy last time so we skipped it).

It's a popular hike, so getting to the parking lot early is a good idea.

The hike is about 4 miles and is easy-moderate. It's pretty flat except the hike down and back up from the crater. We did the hike counter clockwise which was a little steeper on the way down and a more gentle climb on the way up.

It was cool to look down at the crater before hiking across the crater floor. The crater floor felt like hiking on another planet. It was really cool.

The beginning and end are shaded, but the crater floor is very sunny.

This was my favorite thing we did at the national park. It's definitely a great thing to do!

Amazing experience!! Seeing an inactive crater and an active one where you can see some of the red of the lava flowing. The hike to the active crater is 3 miles round trip. Recommend packing water! Plenty of parking available. The hike isn't bad since the weather is so nice and they are some shady spots to stop and rest on the side of the road. The full road to the active crater is not open to cats since the latest eruption made the road collapse from what the park ranger was saying during our visit.

Most of this trail was shaded which was nice. The crater isn't though so make sure you bring a bunch of Sunblock.

Allot between 2 to 4 hours for this. Depending on how fit you are and how many pictures you stop and take. We took a ton.

Thurston lava tubes were closed when we went on Sept 9,2019.

If you're only planning to visit Volcano National Park for a few hours, then the Kilauea Iki hike (4 miles RT, 2 hours or so) is a must-do. How often do you get a chance to hike along a volcanic crater? The friendly rangers at the visitor center recommend this hike as one of the best in the Park. I would say its probably one of the best in all of Big Island!

I like this hike because its tough, but very doable for everyone. From the trailhead you'll first hike downhill through a rain forest, seeing the gigantic crater below. Yep, look closely and you'll see people walking across that crater. That will be you soon!

The crater itself is the highlight. There will be some rocky surfaces but most of the trail is very flat. Its so vast and intimidating, so just follow the little towers of rock - they mark the "trail" for you. We also enjoyed seeing the multi-colored flowers that managed to grow from the volcanic soil. Also, getting up close to the steam vents was cool.

Eventually, hiking through the crater you'll wind you way uphill through rain forest again until you arrive at the secondary (spillover) parking lot. If you parked at the main parking lot/trailhead, you'll walk a short 0.5 mile or so along the road back to where you started.