• Introduction
• 1. Arches
• 2. Badlands
• 3. Big Bend
• 4. Biscayne
• 5. Cape Breton Highlands
• 6. Congaree
• 7. Grand Canyon North Rim
• 8. Gwaii Haanas
• 9. Hawaii Volcanoes
• 10. Sequoia & Kings Canyon

Hawaii Volcanoes

It’s not all sand and surf on Hawaii's Big Island. This hot spot (geologically speaking, at any rate) also finds fiery lava flowing from the mouth of one of the world’s most-active volcanoes at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where the daunting Kilauea regularly spews molten 2100-degree lava that reshapes the landscape as it gushes down into the Pacific. Not to be outdone, the world’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa, is also found here, rearing up 13,677 feet from sea level. Although you probably don’t want to get too close to the steamy summits, the 11-mile-loop Crater Rim Drive provides a dramatic overview; look for the Thurston Lava Tube (a massive tube formed by a violent lava surge); Kilauea Iki Trail (a popular melt-in-your-shoes hike that passes by steaming vents and crosses a crater that last erupted in 1959); and the Halemaumau Crater Overlook (where you can peek into the bubbling lava-filled home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess).

See San Francisco Travel Guide | See Banff Travel Guide | See Grand Canyon Travel Guide