Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Reopens Most of Its Access After the Storms
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park has reopened most of its access after storm-related closures, now that the fire risk has dropped sharply.
By Erika Müller,
If you had Hawaiʻi Volcanoes on your travel itinerary, things have just eased up. The park has reopened most of its areas after a string of temporary closures. The cause: a hurricane, then a tropical storm, and finally heavy rain that swept across the region.
Those closures were first and foremost a safety measure, giving conditions time to become passable again on the ground. One side effect turned out to be pretty welcome. The heavy rainfall pushed back the fire risk, one of the recurring threats on this volcanic terrain. So the park is now both safer and more accessible than it was during the weather event.
A word of caution, though. The park reopened "for the most part," which isn't the same thing as a full reopening. Some trails, roads, or overlooks may stay closed while crews finish their checks and repairs. Before you get in the car, we'd suggest confirming the exact status of the access points you care about, especially if your day hinges on one particular area like a crater or a recent lava flow.
For a traveler putting a trip together, this basically means the window is opening back up: the main access points are available again, as long as you stay flexible on the finer details of your route.
To plan your visit with peace of mind, we've pulled together the essentials in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes park guide: access, highlights, and practical tips for when you're there. And if you're building a bigger trip across the islands, our road trip itinerary that runs through this park will help you set your stops around this volcanic stopover without wasting any time.