Hawaii, Volcanoes National park

My wife and I are flying to Honolulu in October and would love to see the active volcano on he big island. Would we be better making a day trip of it or staying the night in Hilo or at the Volcano house.

Are we going to be able to see flowing lava or just the fields of past lava flows?

Hawaii, Volcanoes National park

You should definately make a day of it, there is a lot of cool stuff to see. Also the most recent I heard that the lava is about 4 miles from the end of the road, which means you would have to hike that far if you want to see any lava. Of course by October who knows, it may be flowing somewhere much more accessible so you will have to check closer to your departure date. Either way, I will still give yourself a full day to explore the park.

Hawaii, Volcanoes National park

Currently, if you want to see the lava flow, you need to be there at night and hike 3 miles over past lava flows to see the lava about a mile away, so you need to stay for the night. Of course you can always take a helo tour. However, as posted previously, things change daily there.

Aloha,

Spending the night would be best if you want to do the night hike. Recently the night hike is about 4 1/2 miles each way and it is not an easy hike since the terrain if rough. Depending on the wind you might see distant lava flow or just steam. It does change daily so you might get closer, or not.

Doing a helicopter tour might allow you to see more flows and you could fly into Hilo for the day, do that and fly back.

There was a recent posting by adamsfamle titled Volcano that you might enjoy reading.

Have a great trip!