Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916 on the Big Island of Hawaii, protects two of the world's most active volcanoes — Kīlauea and the massive Mauna Loa — where visitors can watch the Earth actively building new land. Lava flows here regularly reshape the park, paving over roads and pouring into the sea, making it one of the only places where the raw process of island creation can be safely witnessed.

The park spans an astonishing range, from the steaming summit caldera of Kīlauea down through lava deserts and lush rainforest to a black-sand coastline. Native Hawaiian tradition holds the volcanoes as the home of Pele, the goddess of fire, and the landscape is sacred ground. As the volcanoes erupt, fall quiet, and erupt again, the park offers an ever-changing portrait of the forces that raised the Hawaiian Islands from the sea.

• Hawaii
  A volcanic island chain in the central Pacific located in
• Mauna Kea
  The tallest mountain on Earth, measured from its base near