Hawaii Forest & Trail - Kona Volcano Hiking Tour & Hidden Craters Adventure

Discover the off-the-beaten-path side of Big Island! Embark on a 4-mile expedition through surreal landscapes, native forests, lava tubes, hidden caves and astounding craters. Venture onto private land and get exclusive access to the upper slopes of Hualalai Volcano. This easy hiking tour provides unique access to volcanic sites, allowing you the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand on the edge of precipitous craters. See how the Big Island was formed with this unique look into the island's volcanic history!

---

Why Should I Book This Tour? You can experience incredible volcanic features comparable to those in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Kilauea Volcano) while eliminating a lot of the drive time! The Hualalai Volcano is located approximately 30 - 40 minutes' driving distance from Kona. Hawaii Forest & Trail takes visitors to areas of Hualalai not accessible to the public.

How much hiking do we do? 3-4 miles along uneven terrain with some steep inclines and declines.

Is there elevation gain? The tour ranges from sea level to 6,000 feet. You will meander on a single-track trail through a native forest with an elevation change of approximately 800 feet. While exploring the lava tube, expect to descend and ascend approximately 30 - 40 feet.

How many different types of volcanic features will I see? Along the tour, we’ll see a 200-year-old lava flow, spatter cones, fissures, and collapse pits.

---

About the Hualalai Volcano: Hualalai Volcano is the third-youngest and the third-most active of the five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii. Hualālai is estimated to have risen above sea level about 300,000 years ago. Despite maintaining a very low level of activity since its last eruption in 1801, and being unusually inactive for the last 2,000 years, Hualālai is still considered active. Between the late 1700s and 1801, molten lava erupted from six different Hualalai vents, two of which generated flows that poured into the ocean up to 15 miles away from their sources. The last of these flows extended the Kona Coast shoreline by about a mile. Though Hualalai’s most recent volcanic activity was a powerful, monthlong earthquake swarm in 1929 that failed to produce a lava breakout, geologists expect the mountain will erupt again within the next century.