Agile Trekker: 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!