Chain of Craters Road
Mauna Ulu, HI

Park structures are ephemeral in volcano country and this stop along the byway brings this home to visitors. In 1973 a pahoehoe lava flow from the Mauna Ulu shield vent buried the old Chain of Craters park road. Visitors today can walk a few yards and view the smooth, ropy solidified pahoehoe lava where it crosses the road, and beyond it, the chunky rough a'a lava as well.

A trailhead here starts a 2-mile round-trip hike to the top of Pu'u Huluhulu where hikers can see the cone of Pu'u O'o, site of the last sustained surface eruption in 1986. Lava may still be flowing from this vent underground through lava tubes to spill out in billowing steam clouds at the oceanside 6 or so miles south.