Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It also hosts craft and cultural workshops, music concerts, plays and dance recitals; see
the online events calendar.
Sulphur Banks
TRAIL
MAP
Near the Volcano Art Center, wooden boardwalks weave through steaming Sulphur
Banks, where numerous holes and rocky vents have been stained yellow, orange and
neon green by the hundreds of tons of sulfuric gases released here daily. The smoldering,
foul-smelling area looks like the aftermath of a forest fire.
A short, easy walk along the beautifully renovated and wheelchair-accessible board-
walk starts at the art center, takes in the Sulphur Banks and crosses the road to Steaming
Bluff. For a longer walk, you can connect to a variety of trails, including Crater Rim
Trail.
Steam Vents & Steaming Bluff
VIEWPOINT
MAP
These nonsulfurous steam vents make a good drive-up photo op; they are the result of
rainwater that percolates down and is heated into steam by hot rocks underground. Much
more evocative is the short walk to the crater rim at Steaming Bluff, where the magnifi-
cent crater view feels infernolike as steam from the cliffs below pours over you.
Cool early mornings or cloudy afternoons showcase the steam best.
Jaggar Museum
MUSEUM
MAP
(
985-6051; 8:30am-7:30pm)
The exhibits at this small museum are a nice
complement to the visitor center; they introduce the museum's founder, famous volcano-
logist Dr Thomas A Jaggar, overview the Hawaiian pantheon, and provide a deeper un-
derstanding of volcanic geology. A bank of real-time seismographs monitor the park's
daily quota of earthquakes, which number from the tens to the hundreds.
Just before you reach the museum, the Kilauea Overlook provides a fine panorama, in-
cluding the Southwest Rift a few miles to the south. This rocky fissure is more massive
and longer than it looks; it slices from the caldera summit all the way to the coast.
Halemaʻumaʻu Viewpoint
VIEWPOINT
MAP
