Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
165 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 09
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
165 km from Pāhala to Pāhala, about 5 h 09 of riding. On the way it passes Ola'a Forest Tract, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and back through Ola'a Forest Tract. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes
Hawaii's Big Island is still being built, and here you can stand on the evidence. Mauna Loa rises to about four thousand two hundred metres above sea level and is the largest active volcano on Earth by volume, while Kilauea beside it has been one of the most active, with eruptions that have repeatedly reshaped the south-east coast. The two together form the heart of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is a World Heritage site. Mauna Loa itself woke in 2022 after thirty-eight years of quiet, a reminder that the mountain is not a museum piece.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes is where the day begins. Next is Ola'a Forest Tract.
2. Ola'a Forest Tract
Above the town of Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the rain falls on a forest that has barely changed in a long time. The Ola'a Forest Tract is a patch of native rainforest on the flank of Kilauea, part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which together with the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea is a World Heritage site, inscribed in 1987. It sits at around 1,200 metres, where clouds drift in each afternoon, and the trees drip with moisture. The canopy is made of ohia lehua, a tree with brilliant red pom-pom flowers, and beneath it grow giant tree ferns called hapuu, with fronds that unfurl like croziers, and a thick understorey of native shrubs, mosses and orchids.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ola'a Forest Tract comes up 33 km in. Next is Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
3. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Pele, the goddess of fire, is said to live in Halemaumau, the crater at the summit of Kilauea, and visitors who throw offerings into the steam do so with some seriousness. The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the south-east side of the Big Island, covers two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kilauea, which has erupted on and off for centuries, and Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth, with a summit 4,169 metres above the sea and a base on the ocean floor far below. They are shield volcanoes, built of thousands of thin lava flows, and their slopes rise so gently that you hardly notice how high you are. The park is a World Heritage site, listed in 1987.