Embark on an unforgettable guided hiking adventure through Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park, where volcanic landscapes, rainforest trails, and geologic history come together in one remarkable experience. This 5.3-mile hike begins at either the Kīlauea Iki Overlook parking area or the Kīlauea Visitor Center, depending on traffic, parking availability, volcanic conditions, and current park access.

This route takes you through truly otherworldly terrain, from lush native forest to the hardened floor of Kīlauea Iki crater, where you will cross a lava lake created by the dramatic 1959 eruption. Kīlauea Iki may look calm today, but in 1959 this now 400-foot-deep crater held a seething lava lake that blasted molten fountains thousands of feet into the air. That eruption is widely considered one of the most spectacular volcanic events of the 20th century and gave geologists a rare chance to study the inner plumbing of Kīlauea volcano.

Scientists began to anticipate the eruption in mid-August 1959, when the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory recorded deep earthquakes within Kīlauea. By October, instruments showed significant inflation at the summit as magma pressurized and filled the reservoir below. By November, thousands of earthquakes were being recorded each day, signaling that magma was moving toward the surface. Then, on November 14, 1959, a fissure opened along the forested wall of Kīlauea Iki and the eruption began.

Over the next five weeks, lava erupted in 17 separate episodes. Fountains rose again and again, with the highest reaching an extraordinary 1,900 feet into the air. Molten rock poured into the crater, building a deep lava lake that eventually rose halfway up the crater walls. As lava fragments and cinders accumulated around the erupting vent, they formed the striking cone known as Puʻupuaʻi, or "gushing hill."

When the lava lake rose above the vent, the fountains would stop and molten lava would drain back underground, sometimes pulling slabs of the hardened crust down with it. These dramatic drainback events helped shape the crater floor that hikers can walk across today. The dark "bathtub ring" left on the crater walls is still visible and offers a powerful reminder of just how high the lava once stood.

Along the way, your guide shares the story of this eruption, the geology that shaped the crater, and the living volcanic forces still active throughout the park. Depending on the route and conditions, the hike will also include Halemaʻumaʻu views, rainforest trails, and Nāhuku Lava Tube, tying together some of the most remarkable landscapes in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Today, more than 60 years later, Kīlauea Iki remains one of the best places in the park to witness the aftermath of a major eruption up close. Although the crater has long since solidified, magma continues to move through Kīlauea, and the landscape remains part of one of the most active volcanic systems on Earth.