The Easy Volcanic Hike Everyone In Hawaii Should Do At Least Once
By Megan Shute|Published August 06, 2017
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Whether you have lived on Hawaii’s Big Island your entire life, or this is your first time visiting, you absolutely must explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A trip to Hawaii Volcanoes isn’t complete without a visit to the Kilauea Caldera, a trip down the Thurston Lava Tube, a walk through the lava fields, and a drive down the Chain of Craters Road, and a ton of hiking. In fact, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is home to more than 150 miles of hiking trails, from easy walks to hikes recommended only for experienced hikers in top physical shape. While all of these hiking trails are phenomenal, there are two underrated trails near the park’s summit area that you shouldn’t miss.
When completed together, the Ha’akulamanu (Sulphur Banks) Trail and ‘Iliahi (Sandalwood) Trail provides hikers with a magnificent experience unlike any other throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
Less than three miles round trip, this hiking trail leads adventurers through a tropical rainforest full of ferns, and through sulphur banks along a paved boardwalk, where steaming vents and colorful mineral deposits abound.
Start your journey at either the Kilauea Visitors Center or the Steam Vents parking lot.
For our purposes today, we’ll start with the steam vents. The steam vents are located .8 miles past the Visitors center, where groundwater seeps to the hot volcanic rocks in the area and returns to the surface as steam.
Just a short walk away is the steaming bluff, a grassy meadow with ground cracks and steam concentrated in fractures along the edge of the caldera.
Megan Shute/OnlyInYourState.com
Next up, you’ll head into a magnificent tropical rainforest on the "Iliahi Trail.
Megan Shute/OnlyInYourState.com
Along this beautiful shaded rainforest trail, you will find sandalwood trees growing alongside non-native plants while you walk near active steam vents and listen to the singing native birds.
Once you’ve come out of the jungle, it’s time to head to the sulfur banks.
According to the National Park Service, "volcanic gases seep out of the ground along with groundwater steam. These gases are rich in carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide – the gas that smells like rotten eggs. Some sulfur gases deposit pure crystals at Sulphur Banks. Other sulfur gases form sulfuric acid, which breaks down the lava to clay." The clay is stained brown and red with iron oxide.
The entire trail is relatively flat and perfect for the whole family. And honestly, where else will you experience steam vents, sulfur banks, and a tropical rainforest in a single short, hour-long hike?
A warning before you go: Pregnant women, infants, young children and those with heart or respiratory problems should avoid this section of the park, as the gases from the sulfur banks can be dangerous.
