VIsit to Volcano National Park
 

We'll be staying in Volcano Village for 2 nights, at the Hale 'Ohu B&B. We'll be driving from Waikoloa, leaving after breakfast. Will probably make some scenic stops enroute.

The 1 full day we are there, we'd like to spend at the park. We have one of those Senior National Park passes for entry. From what I read, the park is most crowded between 10am and 2pm. Just wandering has the parks services/facilities been affected by cuts in staffing, etc? Any recommendations on the best way to spend a day there? We are seniors and do walk regularly. We can do several miles, as long as there's an occasional break. Prefer not uphll climbs. We also have a car so can combine hiking with scenic drives. From what I can tell, there has been some activity since late December. Would love to see some lava fountains if we're lucky. Our last day we have a flight from Hilo at 11:35am.

It's been a long time since I was there but I do recall that the Visitors Center had very interesting displays and film. Unfortunately for us there was very stormy weather and we had limited time because this was an add-on day for a conference my. husband attended and so we had to make the best of it. Very windy and wet and one of the tunnels you can walk through had standing water and didn't do because of mud in rental car concerns. I think the Visitors Center gave us rain ponchos.

Check out the volcano cam for eruption updates. There’s cellular service in the main part of the park. By checking the webcam before leaving the park we were able to see the lava spitting and walk to a viewpoint and see the volcano begin to erupt.

The Crater drive down to the sea is scenic. The pictographs at the walk near the bottom are the best we saw, rough overland hike (poles recommended).

It’s a chilly park and more oddity than scenic.

So we were there, missed an actual eruption by a day! Did see some flames though. We ended up downloading the Shaka app, and followed their suggested itinerary. It worked well. We visited the afternoon we arrived for a short time. Had dinner at the rim restaurant, from there you could see the glowing crater. The next day we were at the park all day, prepared for cool temps and rain (it rained nonstop the night before). It ended up warm and mostly sunny with a few sprinkles. After dinner that evening, we returned to the park and went to one of the better viewing spots, which required about a mile walk, mostly on paved road near the parking for the devatation trail (which we had hiked earlier). This was our view
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2d6797a569.jpg

Also, we did take the crater drive and did the hike to see the petroglyphs. We used our poles!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...086b8fd9e7.jpg

Thanks for checking back in. Sounds like a great visit.

For your Volcanoes NP day, start early at Kīlauea Overlook for Halemaʻumaʻu Crater views (no lava fountains currently), drive Chain of Craters Road for flat stops like Hōlei Sea Arch, and try the easy 1.2-mile Kīpukapuaulu Trail