The Kīlauea Iki Crater visible from the lookout at the beginning of the hike.
The route begins at the rim of the crater and works its way down, so some sections of trail are reinforced with stairs.
Signs throughout the hike inform visitors about the native flora along with the history of the eruption.
A glimpse of the massive Kīlauea Iki Crater through the dense jungle that surrounds it.
Descending into the crater along the Kīlauea Iki Trail.
The surface of the crater is the crust of a lava lake.
Fiddlehead ferns are ubiquitous around the crater.
Dense forests surround the crater creating a wall of vegetation that the trail skirts and tunnels through.
The first sign of the eruption in 1959 came from the vent at the base of Pu'u Pua'i. As the vent became partially obstructed with debris, pressure increased and eruptions grew to tremendous heights.
A clear line of demarcation exists where the volcanic activity destroyed the forest.
It is possible to hike to the Kīlaeua Iki Trail from the visitor center.
Junctions are well signed.
Dense forest and an annihilated landscape along the Kīlaeua Iki Trail.
Unidentified species (help us identify it by providing feedback).
Uluhe fern.
Individual hikers can appear dwarfed by the enormous crater.
Hikers entering the Kīlaeua Iki Crater.
The bathtub ring, or a lava subsidence terrace, marks the limit of the lava lake.
Sulfurous deposits on chunks of lava in the crater.
Hiking through the Kīlaeua Iki Crater.
Sections of the lava almost appear braided.
Everything about the crater feels enormous once you are in it. Percolating lava bubbled and solidified in giant mounds.
The hole in the earth here is the main vent that erupted in 1959.
The trail is marked with cairns as you cross the surface of the crater.
Collapses in the lake's crust account for long fissures like this.
A 'ōhi'a lehua flower blooms in the Kīlaeua Iki Crater.
The climb back up out of the crater toward the Thurston Lava Tube.
Back along the rim the trail becomes much busier, and short sections near the lava tube are paved.