Nahuku Lava Tube, Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/13/2026	0.5 miles	20 minutes	90'	1.9 mph	84.7

Parking: 

• Thurston Lava Tube, Crater Rim Drive. The parking lot is busy so its best to go early in the morning or late in the evening.

Map:

• Gaia GPS app
• National Park map 

Directions:

• Cross the street and follow the loop hike.

Our next stop of the day was the Thurston or Nahuku Lava Tube.  I've always wanted to see a lava tube. It was nothing like I expected. I expected an above ground tube, made of shiny black rock (like obsidian) on a desert floor of lava. It was pretty much the opposite of this. It was a rainforest. Lava rock is not shiny. When you enter the tube, it's like going through an underground tunnel. The lava tube is lit up inside during the day. At 8pm, they turn out the lights inside, but you could certainly do it as a night hike, and we did once later on our trip.

These fern-like plants look pre-historic.

Hapu'u Pulu

The lava tube entrance

The walls of the tube

There are puddles inside, but not too deep.
The lights inside stay on until 8pm.
A headlamp is still useful due to uneven footing inside.

Steam Vents at Kukamahuakea to Steaming Bluff Overlook, Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/13/2026	0.4 miles	21 minutes	8'	1.9 mph	83.4

Parking: 

• Steam Vents, Crater Rim Drive

Map:

• Gaia GPS app
• National Park map 

Directions:

• Explore the steam vents in the parking area. Take the Steam Vent Trail to Steaming Bluffs where you can view the crater. Return the same way.

We stopped at the Volcano House in the morning. They provide free tea and coffee. We visited this lodge regularly. We stopped in their Gift Shop. The woman working there gave us lots of suggestions of things to do. She told us a lot of funny stories too and taught us a little bit about the Hawaiian alphabet - there are 5 vowels and 8 consonants. She said she knew it better as a child and was now studying it in DuoLingo. 

After stopping by the Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center, we went to ranger talk at Uekahuna. Shortly after it started, it had to be canceled because his sulphur dioxide monitor started beeping loudly which meant the air quality was dangerous. The wind was blowing S02 from the volcano our way.

We went back to the visitor center and joined another ranger talk/mini hike where we learned about Pele. Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes, believed to reside in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea on the Big Island. Known as both creator and destroyer, she governs lava flows, shaping the islands through volcanic activity. We heard a lot about Pele during our stay.

We took a drive and did a short walk at the steam vents.  We did this as a roadside stop. It's really part of a longer hike which we did later during our trip. The steam vents are fenced off, and warm steam comes out of them constantly. Today is when I discovered reticulite, the lightest rock on earth. It’s made of extremely frothy volcanic glass with up to about 98% air space. Some pieces are so light they can float on water. It's pretty and shiny. They say it can be a skin & lung irritant, but yes, at some point I did pick some up. It falls from the sky during eruptions - and the grounds of our cabin are covered in it. We saw it in the grass, in trees, just everywhere. And yes, it's crazy lightweight!

Looking at the volcano from Volcano House. How cool is that???

It's a large crater.

One of the crater walls

The Hawaiian alphabet and pronunciation guide

One of the steam vents at the steam vent parking lot

A map of the crater

Walking to the overlook

Little pieces of shiny reticulite

Ohi'a Lehua

We always like attending ranger talks

We picked up a junior ranger booklet.
We learn from them too.

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, Kailua-Kona

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/12/2026	2.1 miles	1 hour 29 minutes	32'	1.9 mph	83

Parking: 

• Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park parking lot. The lot closes at 4pm.

Map:

• Gaia GPS app
• National Park map KAHO Park Brochure

Directions:

• Take the Ala Mauka Makai trail from the parking lot. Pass the petrolglyphs (unfortunately this section was closed for trail renovation). Stay straight to follow signs for the 'Aiopio Fishtrap. Return the same way.

On Saturday, April 11th, we drove from Soledad, California to San Francisco, stopping at an REI on the way. In the evening, we flew 6 hours to Honolulu, Hawaii. We were tired when we arrived, but we were also very excited to be in Hawaii. I've only been once before, as an infant. We stopped at the hotel restaurant and had fruity adult beverages. They had a live band, and lots of older folks were dancing to the music.

The next day, April 12th, we woke up very early to fly from Honolulu to Kona on the Big Island. We were concerned about our trip here, because we read about Hawaii flooding on the news. Amazingly, we didn't really have any rain on our trip, nor did we see any signs of flooding. We stopped at a Costco and I bought a sarong (made in another country) for $10, my only souvenir from the trip. We also stopped at a taco restaurant.

We went to Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, which is part of the National Park Service. We did a short hike there and checked out the coast. Two park rangers were there, making sure no one got near the endangered monk seal that was swimming there. We also saw a few green sea turtles swimming. Both are hard to take photos of.

Then drove a scenic route to the Volcano House. This is where we checked in for our stay at Volcano Cabins. The Volcano House is open 24/7, and welcomes visitors to stop in any time, even if they aren't staying there. It has an amazing view of Kilauea, the most active volcano in Hawaii. You can look down into the Halea'uma'u crater from inside the visitor center or go outside their backdoor to view it too. It's been fountaining very regularly since the end of 2024. We just missed a fountaining episode by 3 days! Seeing a volcano eruption is on my bucket list. 

We drove to Volcano Cabins, where we would be staying for the next few nights. There are around 8 cabins. Our cabin had 3 beds, bedding, bath towels, lights, electricity, and a covered picnic table outside. There is a shared bath house close by. It was perfect for our stay. They are in high demand - so we booked the timing of our trip around our stay at our cabin. The cabin was chilly at night for me, so I borrowed my friend's sleeping bag.

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Rattlepods genus

Lava as far as you can see

I love checking out the cool lava formations

Noni

Yellow 'ilima

Coral creeper

Pa'u O Hi'iaka

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There was an endangered monk seal in the area, so the rangers were working to 
keep swimmers away from it.

Sea Purslane

The monk seal

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We also saw green sea turtles popping their heads up

Tree Heliotrope

Amazing place to view the very active volcano crater from the Volcano House

We shared a 3-bed cabin, which was very close to everything.
The ground is covered with crunchy tephra from the last eruption.
It was perfect!