Crater Rim Drive(edit)

Overview

This is a easy out and back trail in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Keanakākoʻi Crater is accessible via a short day hike along Old Crater Rim Drive, beginning at the Devastation Trailhead parking lot.

Keanakākoʻi (cave of the dazes) was created during collapses of Kīlauea during the 1500's to 1700's.

In 1877, A lava flow covered the crater floor, reportedly burying a rock quarry that was a source for the hard, superior stone used to make tools such as the adze (an axe) by Hawaiians.

The eruption of Kīlauea Iki in 1959 draped the area surrounding Keanakākoʻi in cinders from massive lava fountains. Then in 1974, the crater was covered with an additional 20 feet of lava, raising the floor by nearly two stories and bringing it to its current depth of about 115 feet (35m).

The walk to the crater passes by many cracks and fissures that opened up during the thousands of earthquakes that rocked the area during the summit collapse of 2018.

On a clear day this is an excellent vantage point for viewing the 13,677 foot summit of Mauna Loa and 13,796 foot summit of Mauna Kea.

Getting Started

Park at Devastation Parking Lot. Walk towards the road out of the parking lot and turn right. Pass the pit toilet and follow the road closed to vehicles.

Taking Children

The trail is a damaged road (earthquakes) which used to circumnavigate the summit caldera.