Kilauea at sunset

Photographs of brilliant orange lava flowing from the Big Island into the Pacific Ocean are abundant in most Hawai’i travel books. But since the sky is rarely as blue, the forest hardly ever as green as full-color glossy photos make them seem, we didn’t expect to witness Hawai’i’s land development in tangerine, molten lava force. We ended up driving right to it.

The viewing site, operated by Hawai’i County, places visitors what feels about a mile or so from the location where lava enters the Pacific. Open from 5pm-10pm (last car in at 8pm), the site requires a short hike over hardened lava. [Read more →]