Hiking the Kilauea Iki Trail from the Crater Floor to the Rainforest, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

This is a small portion of the Kilauea Iki Trail in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. We chose to hike the Crater Rim Trail portion first and enter the Crater floor on the west side of the crater off of the Crater Rim Trail. When you do a search about this hike it will list it as challenging but I didn't find it to be. It was about a 4 mile hike that anyone in decent shape could do. Just wear decent shoes and be ready for it to be a bit chilly and windy in the crater.

This video is on the east side of the crater. It shows what it's like to go from walking out of the crater and back in to the rainforest. I find it fascinating that within about 100 feet things are completely different.

Here's some general information about the hike.

At the top, just east of the main caldera, lies the crater of Kilauea Iki ('Little Kilauea'). The scene of one of Hawaii's most violent volcanic displays, the 1959 eruption saw lava shoot 1,900 ft into the air. This varied trail, considered by many to be the best in the Park, gives hikers a fascinating close-up view of the site of this eruption.

The trail winds down the wall of Kilauea Iki and heads west across the eerie crater floor, covered by hardened lava flows and surrounded by cliffs. After passing the vent of the 1959 eruption, the trail climbs out of the crater and reaches a junction shortly after, at the 2.4 mile/3.9 km mark.

Hikers at the bottom of the Kilauea Iki Crater. This diverse hike takes you through rain forests engulfed in gigantic ferns and dry rocky lava beds with intermittent steam vents and sulfur banks. This trail descends 400 feet through rain forest, crosses the crater floor, passes Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone, and returns via the crater's rim. Of interest: Rain forest, birds, insects, 1959 lava lake, steam vents, cinder and spatter cone.

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• hawaii
• mountain
• park
• climbing
• national
• mountains
• trail
• hiking
• nature
• ridge
• Kilauea
• Iki
• Crater
• Rim
• Trail
• national park