Suggestions for Volcanoes National Park

[BirdDogDad]

My wife and I are traveling to Hawaii's big island in early November, and a trip to Volcanoes National Park is a possibility. I've read that it gets quite crowded around sunset and shortly after as everyone wants to see the lava (assuming it is flowing) and the glow. I am trying to decide if it is worth hauling a bunch of my camera gear on the trip to hopefully get some cool photos of hot lava. If any of you have been there recently and have suggestions, tips or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Replytoken]

I was there weeks before it erupted when the volcano was still active and the evening shots were worth bringing your gear. But my understanding is that parts of the park were then closed (including the museum and lookout) and that the volcano was not showing much activity. That may have changed in the past few years, but I would suggest that you get up to date information before making any decisions.

https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/management/jaggar-museum.htm

Astrophotography on the island can be quite good if you are into it since the island is so dark.

Regarding other things to do, what do you like to do when traveling? Having a car is a must on the island, and there are a lot of interesting place to drive and see. And some type of water activity, like sail boating, whale watching (although November may not be the best time for that) or snorkeling is also recommended. And where will you be staying?

--Ken

P.S. I would not normally cross post, but as we share moderators and many members, I do not consider the café a competitor - https://www.nikoncafe.com/threads/hawaii-trip-waikoloa.338789/ .

 

[NorthernFocus]

As Ken suggested check on the status of the volcano. If it's flowing and they're allowing access it is certainly worth hauling the gear. Several years ago(10+) we had to hike a couple of miles along the coast from the nearest road access to the flow. Back then it was basically wide open access. Not even a roped off area. The only thing that kept you from getting too close to the flow was the heat. I wasn't a very good photographer at the time and didn't come away with much more than a few documentary shots but it was a unique experience and well worth the effort. One thing we did not fully appreciate was the difficulty of hiking back two miles in the dark across what is essentially black broken glass. We'd have had to spend the night out there but were forewarned enough to carry flashlights. And thankfully we were both wearing leather hiking boots. I think since then they've restricted access a bit more.

 

[BirdDogDad]

Thank you, Ken and Dan. Much appreciated. Ken, we will not be lacking in things to do. We're staying in the Mauna Lani area--my wife is attending a business conference at the Fairmount. I tag along if there are tennis courts nearby (which there are). My wife's nephew lives in Kailua-Kona, we'll spend some time with his family. And yes, we will have a car. The main problem will not be lack of things to do, but lack of time to do them all. Thanks for the Nikon Cafe link. Very helpful. No way I'm taking all the stuff that OP is packing, tho. Dan, thanks for the advice. I take hiking boots anywhere I travel. And a good flashlight. We will keep checking all the websites for current status, and I no doubt will haul at least a camera, couple of lenses and tripod with me. They may not get used, but if I leave them at home that guarantees they won't get used.

 

[BillW]

Hawaii Volcanos National Park is one of our favorite parks. Well worth a visit.

As Ken and Dan say, the volcano and its activity changes frequently, so you will want to check the Park Service Website re current conditions. When we were there most recently (this May — usually we go in January, but this year we postponed our visit), the only place you could see lava in the Halema’uma’a Crater in the Kilauea Caldera was from the Keanakako’i Crater. (A 2 mile round trip hike, but mostly on a paved road.) At the other viewing points, you could see orange glow before or after sunset, but not actual lava. And there was no lava flowing into the ocean or along the lava fields from the crater to the coast that Dan mentioned. We have hiked in the area Dan mentioned when there was lava flowing to the ocean in earlier years — pretty spectacular when it happens. We had flashlights and went with a small guided group that hiked in the adjacent state/local park, where there is closer permitted access than in the NP, and stayed until after dark.

I brought my Z6II and the Z 24-120 mm lens to the park. A longer focal length would have been nice (I had my Z 100-400 with me in Hawaii, but did not bring it to the park), at least from the Keanakao’i Crater.

Probably best to see the lava before sunrise (the park rangers told us that this was the least busy time) or after sunset (busier, but the people did thin out after a while). We decided to go after sunset. We were staying on the northwest coast of the Big Island and we did not want to drive back to our hotel from the park after dark. So we booked a night at the Kilauea Lodge in Volcano Village. The village is near the main park entrance. Convenient. Nice restaurant. If you like Thai food, the nearby Thai Thai restaurant is good. There are other places to stay in the village.

There are other interesting things to see and do in the park. If you like to hike, the Kilauea Iki hike is our favorite hike on the Big Island. There are several ways to do the hike. We like to start near the Visitor Center and Volcano House and first descend into the Kilauea Caldera, hike along the edge of the caldera and then out of the caldera to Kilauea Iki. Good to have a park map with you.

The Chain of Craters road down to the ocean is very pretty and worth the drive.

Have a great trip.

 

[BirdDogDad]

the only place you could see lava in the Halema’uma’a Crater in the Kilauea Caldera was from the Keanakako’i Crater.

Thank you, Bill, very helpful and some good tips you passed on. As far as I can tell the status of the Halema’uma’a Crater remains as you found it. Apparently no lava currently flowing into the ocean. We are also debating sunrise vs. sunset and the long drive from the NW coast. Your suggestions are very much appreciated and will save us a lot of research and false starts. Might do some astrophotography as Ken suggested. What's another lens among friends?

 

[BillW]

Thank you, Bill, very helpful and some good tips you passed on. As far as I can tell the status of the Halema’uma’a Crater remains as you found it. Apparently no lava currently flowing into the ocean. We are also debating sunrise vs. sunset and the long drive from the NW coast. Your suggestions are very much appreciated and will save us a lot of research and false starts. Might do some astrophotography as Ken suggested. What's another lens among friends?

The visitor center on Mauna Kea (at around 9 or 10,000 feet elevation) has some of darkest, most impressive skies I have ever seen.

We were there a few years ago on a Mauna Kea park ranger tour of the summit and one of the Keck telescopes. The ranger’s tour was not a commercial tour and I thought it was amazing. The summit is around 13,700 feet (so chilly, with some snow and ice) and one person on the tour had altitude issues at the summit and had to go down early. You do some altitude acclimatization at the visitor center (needed, as most people are coming from sea level on the island). Not all vehicles are allowed to drive to the summit — park regulations and also rental car company rules. You needed a FWD vehicle with low range, as I recall, to go with the rangers. There was a local rental company that rented SUVs for the summit. I am not sure if the rangers are doing the tours now.

I did some photography at the Mauna Kea summit including a beautiful sunset, but did not do any after it was fully dark. Not sure where the Milky Way is in November. I would definitely try some astrophotography now. You can drive to visitor center without a special vehicle and I believe rental car companies also allow their cars to go to the visitor center. Some nights, the rangers run a star party with telescopes.

I would also expect nice astrophotography at Vocanos NP. I’ve seen some photos of the Milky Way over the caldera.

 

[Replytoken]

Attached is a low resolution sample shot from 2015 just to give you an idea of what good activity looks like. I doubt you will see this level in your trip, I am sorry to say, but I wanted you to at least have some idea. But your lungs will probably thank you as the levels of sulfur in the air have dropped substantially after the collapse.

--Ken

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[BirdDogDad]

The visitor center on Mauna Kea (at around 9 or 10,000 feet elevation) has some of darkest, most impressive skies I have ever seen.

Attached is a low resolution sample shot

Thank you, Bill and Ken. I will definitely take my 20 mm to try some night photography. Fortunately, the smallest lens I own. Nice shot, Ken. I guess that makes up my mind about schlepping camera gear with me. I will investigate the trip to the summit, as we will have a 4wd vehicle. Altitude is not an issue for us, since we live at 8800 feet elevation. My wife will like to hear that the sulfur in the air has diminished, since she has asthma and enough difficulty with clean air.

I cannot help but express my gratitude for Steve's site, and the time and effort so many fellow photographers invest to answer questions and to help others. That is why I follow it. If only this level of courtesy and civility existed throughout society...

 

[BillW]

Here is a link to a SmugMug gallery with a few photos from our May visit to HVNP. I have not finished working through the photos from the trip. These are not great photos, but might give you some idea of what it was like.

We walked out to the Keanakao’i Crater viewpoint during day to see what the walk and view was like before returning after dinner and after dark. Saw the nene (native Hawaiian goose), road and ferns. Some daylight shots of the Halema’uma’a Crater and lava lake. And then a couple of shots of the lava lake after dark.

The night shots of the lava lake are taken with a Z6II and Z 24-120 at 120. Cropped too. The lava is quite bright, so I shot handheld with VR.

HVNP -- Halema'uma'u Crater - wwelke

This gallery hosted by SmugMug; your photos look better here.

wwelke.smugmug.com

 

[eaj101]

I really enjoyed shooting at Kilauea, though I found it photographically tough. 'Magic hour' seems to be much shorter in the tropics and there's not a lot of color in cold lava, though red flowers against the lava is a good shot. As appealing as many of the birds are, the endemic species are often rare and hard to see. Wave photos can be interesting, as can the waterfalls, many of which look like sets out of South Pacific.

Photographing the volcano is an entirely different thing. I think it photographs best at night, but that's dependent on the state and volume of the eruption, as well as whether you can see into the fire pit at all. But the glow of hot lava can be pretty spectacular. I found shots balancing the glow against the stars (kind of like volcano+astrophotography) to be difficult but well worthwhile. Consider a helicopter trip if there's erupting lava.

As a note, the view of the eruption from the Volcano House hotel is pretty good, and the food is good as well

 

[Calson]

I had walking boots on my feet and I was still limited in terms of how long I could stand on the lava around the flow.

There is a great B&B just outside the park that is a great place to stay. Surprised me to find that our cabin had a wood burning stove as it was high enough in elevation to get cold at night. Hawaii is the one place in the USA where neither furnaces for heating or air conditioners for cooling are needed. The downside is that they get even more tsunami's over the years than Japan.