Things to do nearDevastation Trail

Devastation Trail owes its name to the Kilauea Iki eruption of November 1959, when lava fountains soared as high as 1,900 feet and buried the surrounding ohia forest under cinder and pumice. What visitors walk through today is the preserved aftermath of that event, a landscape frozen mid-catastrophe and slowly being reclaimed by native plants.

The trail runs about 0.9 miles one way along a paved path and boardwalk, beginning near the Pu'u Puai cinder cone and ending at a parking area on Crater Rim Drive. The route is nearly flat, making it suitable for most fitness levels. Interpretive signs along the way explain how the eruption unfolded and how the ecosystem has been recovering over the decades. Ghost-white tree molds, where lava hardened around living trunks, stand as eerie monuments throughout the field. You can explore guided hikes that cover this and surrounding trails for deeper geological context.

Just over a kilometer away, Kilauea Iki Crater offers a natural complement to this walk, descending into a solidified lava lake that formed during the same eruption. Together the two trails paint a vivid picture of volcanic force and renewal. Devastation Trail rewards any visitor who wants to feel the scale of Hawaii's geological story without a strenuous climb.