National Park of Hawaii Volcanoes

Location: Hawaii
Established: August 1, 1916
Size: 333,000 acres (134,760 hectares)

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, on the "Big Island" of Hawai'i, offers the visitor a look at two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

More than 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) high and still growing, Kīlauea abuts the southeastern slope of the older and much larger Mauna Loa, or "long mountain." Mauna Loa towers some 13,679 feet (4,169 meters) above the sea: Measured from its base 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) below sea level, it exceeds Mount Everest in height. Mauna Loa's gently sloping bulk—some 19,000 cubic miles (79,200 cubic kilometers) in volume—makes it the planet's most massive single mountain.

The park stretches from sea level to Mauna Loa's summit. Beyond the end of the road lies Mauna Loa's wilderness area, where backpackers encounter freezing nights and rough lava trails amid volcanic wonders: barren lava twisted into nightmarish shapes, cinder cones, gaping pits. Kīlauea, however, provides easy access to a greater variety of scenery and cultural sites.

On the slopes of Kīlauea, whose name means "spreading, much spewing," lush green rain forest borders stark, recent lava flows. This natural laboratory of ecological change displays all stages of forest regeneration—from early regrowth of lichens and ferns to dense forest. The rain forest on the windward side of Kīlauea's summit gives way to the stark, windswept Ka'ī Desert on the hot, dry southwestern slope. At the shore, waves create lines of jagged cliffs; periodic eruptions send fresh lava flows to meet the sea amid colossal clouds of steam.

Geological dynamism forms the park's primary natural theme, followed closely by evolutionary biology. Thousands of unique species have evolved on the isolated Hawaiian islands. Cultural sites abound as well, reminders of the Polynesian pioneers who steered their great double-hulled canoes to Hawai'i beginning some 1,500 years ago.

The United Nations has named the park both an international biosphere reserve and a World Heritage site. Many of the park's intriguing native plants and animals, however, are in peril, defenseless against alien species including weedy invasive plants and feral pigs.