Steam Vents — Attraction in Hawaii

The steam vents are a great way to introduce yourself and the little ones to the way land is formed and it is truly spectacular.

There are two ways you can get to the Steam Vents - first, you can start at the visitor center and hike the roughly half-mile trail to get to the Sulfur Banks and through the banks and across Crater Rim Drive. The other route is to drive and park and catch both the Steam Vents and Sulfur Banks. Both demonstrate some cool history of the mountain and volcanic history. Be aware, however, there are signs posted indicating the Sulfur Dioxide is harmful to pregnant women as well as children. The Sulfur smell is quite noticeable around the steam vents around the Sulfur Banks.

The steam vents are such an awesome part of this tour and the best way to start off. There are a couple trails that are shut down due to recent seismic activity and the rangers at the visitor center will speak to that. Stop by the visitor center to check and see what updates they may have upon your visit. I was disappointed there was no active lava at the time of our visit. I was looking forward to...

We went to volcano national park during episode 28 of Kīlauea's recent eruption/ fountaining. The steam vents were one of the more popular places for folks to park and watch the lava fountain. There are multiple vents scattered around the area but there are two immediately adjacent to the parking. Virtually no walking needed except to get out of your car! There are railings around them and it's a pretty cool experience to stand next to them and feel the steam. FOR THE BEST EFFECT, stand downwind. If you're upwind of the vent you won't feel much of anything but if you stand downwind it will feel like a sauna.

In addition to the two vents that are super easy to access there are others that are a short hike from the parking lot. These are more natural looking (they just look like holes in the ground!). Some of these are right next to the crater rim trail. Others are scattered about. Highly recommend you stop in this area during your visit...

What an experience! True open steam vents in multiple spots. The walk down to the caldera was very short and easy I believe it's only a tenth of a mile ~ 0.1 mile. This trail was a fine loose gravel trail. Once at Kilauea caldera the view is spectacular we came back in the morning we came back in the afternoon we even came back in the evening.

As far as entry one private car was $30 to enter volcano National Park. The steam vents are located within the park so in order to access them you have to enter the national Park gate. I encourage the yearly pass to save money on multiple visits as we were visiting this National Park as well as Haleakala National Park on the Island of Maui. I'm not sure if this pricing fluctuates there are other pricing parameters I believe active military are free. To be sure I would check online for entry fees.

I highly recommend and will always return to Volcanoes National Park it's one of...