Kilauea Iki Trail starts from Kilauea Iki Overlook. This trail is one of the best in the park, offering excellent opportunities to enjoy Hawaiian rain forest and plants, see views of Kilauea Iki pit crater and beautiful vistas, and explore features from the 1959 eruption. The trail is a 4 mile (6.5 km) loop that takes 2-3 hours to hike. The park rangers recommend that visitors follow the trail in a counter-clockwise direction. The following guide follows this recommendation.
This aerial view shows the main features of the Kilauea Iki area. Crater Rim Drive is on the bottom right. The larger of the two pit craters that make Kilauea Iki fills most of the photo. The smaller of the two pit craters is near the top of the center of the photo. Puu Puai, the cinder cone that formed during the 1959 eruption, is in the top left corner. Kilauea Caldera is the gray flat area across the top of the photo. Byron Ledge is the green ridge between Kilauea Iki and Kilauea Caldera. Kilauea Iki Trail can be seen on the floor of the crater. Photograph by Jim Griggs, U.S. Geological Survey.
Crater Rim Drive climbs a gradual incline to Kilauea Iki Overlook and Thurston Lava Tube. The slopes are part of the Ai-laau, an old shield-shaped vent that formed near the summit of Kilauea Volcano about 350-500 years ago. This vent and its associated lava flows are named after a Hawaiian god of fire that lived in this area. From Figure 12.5, of R.T. Holcomb, 1987, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1350, p. 268.
Lava erupted from this vent and traveled 25 miles (40 km) down to the ocean. The lava covered much of the low area between the east rift zone of Kilauea and the lower southeast flank of Mauna Loa. If a similar eruption occurred today it would bury hundreds of homes. Simplified from Figure 12.12 of R.T. Holcomb, 1987, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1350, p. 287.
Before Pele arrived on the island of Hawaii it was occupied by another god of fire. His name was Ai-laau, the one who eats the forest. Many times he destroyed the beautiful forests on the south part of the island. He also created new land along the edge of the island. Ai-laau lived for a long time in the area now occupied by Kilauea Iki Crater. He later moved to the main crater and that was where he was when Pele arrived on the shore of the Island of Hawaii. She went to the summit of Kilauea to meet Ai-laau and find a resting place with him. When she arrived at the summit Ai-laau was gone. He had fled in fear and now is lost. Pele dug deep within Kilauea and made herself a home. Photo by Steve Mattox, 1990.
Views from the trail along the north rim reveal much of the geology of the summit of Kilauea and beyond. Kilauea Iki is in the foreground and Puu Puai is on the left. The floor of Kilauea Caldera and Halemaumau Crater are in the middle ground. The long southeast slope of Mauna Loa is in the distance. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
This photo shows Kilauea Iki pit crater prior to 1959. The crater was about 600 feet (180 m) deep. A trail traversed the floor of the crater. Photographer and date unknown. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
One aspect that makes this trail interesting is the stark contrast between the forest on the rim and the near barren lava of the crater floor. Native plants (those that arrived on the island on their own) are abundant. Alien plants (those brought to the island by people) are also common. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
This native tree fern is a hapuu. It is about 12 feet (4 m) tall. Hapuu are easy to identify because of their height (up to 40 feet, 12 m) and the large number of fronds on each stalk. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Boulder deposits and a "bath-tub ring" of lava are seen looking back along the steep wall of the crater. Large earthquakes in 1975 and 1983 shook rocks from the walls of the crater and they fell to the crater floor. The "bath-tub ring" of lava marks the high stand of the 1959 lava lake with in crater. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Uki is a native Hawaiian sedge. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Wawaeiole is a native Hawaiian club moss. In Hawaiian the name means "rat's foot" which describes the shape of the new growth of the plant. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Ohelo is the name for this native bush and it's berries. Ohelo is sacred to Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire. The berries are good for eating. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Most of the flowering plants in the park are alien species. Some species, like orchids, are not aggressive and do not displace native species. Others, like ginger, can overrun and replace native plants in the understory. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
The north rim offers great views of Puu Puai and the vent for the 1959 eruption. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Cinder from the 1959 eruption blankets the crater rim as shown in the bottom of this photo. Byron Ledge is in the middle ground. Halemaumau and Mauna Loa are in the distance. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
Stay on the trail. The crater was made by collapse along faults. In some places, the ground cracked open but did not move. These cracks are often covered with thick vegetation. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
One native flowering plant is the ohia tree. It produces beautiful red blossoms, called lehua. The tree and flower are named for two Hawaiian lovers. Pele wished to marry Ohia, a handsome young warrior. When he declined her proposal she lost her temper and turned him into a tree. Lehua, Ohia's true love, begged the gods to return Ohia to his human form. They could not. They did turn Lehua into a beautiful blossom and placed it on the ohia tree, thus reuniting the two lovers. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
The amau fern also plays a role in Hawaiian history. One of Pele's lovers was Kamapuaa, a half-man half-pig demigod. One day, when Pele refused his advances, they began to fight. The fight rage on for several days. To save himself, Kamapuaa changes his form to the amau fern. Prior to recent eruptions, the crater in the caldera was surrounded by amau fern, thus the name Halemaumau, house of the amau fern. Photo by Steve Mattox, July, 1990.
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