Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

Entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park won’t cost the earth, in fact, on occasional dates it won’t cost you anything at all!

Free Entrance Days to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The following days have been designated as free entrance days to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park during 2012 . . . for subsequent years the dates may change slightly but the idea will probably be the same!

• January 14 – 16 – Martin Luther King Jr Day Weekend
• January 21  – Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Open House
• April 21 – 29 – National Park Week
• June 9 – Get Outdoors Day
• July 14 – Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s 32 Annual Cultural Festival
• September 29 – National Public Lands Day
• November 10 – 12 – Veterans Day Weekend

All entrance fees are waived for these days, which in turn means that there could be plenty of visitors around. If you want to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at some other time, it’ll cost;

• $10 per vehicle for a 7 day pass – for a single, private, non-commercial vehicle including all passengers
• $5 per individual for a 7 day pass – for anyone of 15 years or more who enters Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on foot, by bicycle, motorcycle etc. Anyone under the age of 15 years can enter Hawaii Volcanoes National Park free of charge. 
• $5 per person is also the charge for any non-commercial groups entering the park in a vehicle or bus which has a capacity to carry 15 persons or more.
• $25 for a Hawaii Tri-Park Annual pass – wow, only 25 bucks per year . . .  bargain!

Camping at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has two drive-in campgrounds, one is called Namakanipaio and one is called Kulanaokuaiki. Drive in camping is only available as a first come, first served type of scenario, reservations are now accepted. You don’t need to check in, you don’t need a reservation so you DO need to get there early, you don’t need a permit, you can stay for up to 7 days each month but not for more than 30 days per year. So where are these campgrounds, and what facilities are available when you get there?

Namakanipaio Campground – is just south of Hilo, a little over 31 miles on Highway 11. This is a large, open, grassy area at around 4,000′ elevation which means that it’s often cool and damp, night times do definitely get chilly so make sure that you’ve got plenty of warm clothes with you – whatever time of year you choose to camp at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The campground has a number of facilities;

• water
• restrooms
• barbecue pits – the only place where campfires are permitted
• picnic tables
   

Kulanaokuaiki Campground – is around 5 miles along the Hilina Pali Road, at an elevation of 2,700′. This is a new campground at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, with 8 campsites, 2 of which have wheelchair access. This campground has the following facilities (or doesn’t, as the case may be) . . .

• NO WATER
• Vault type toilet (with no running water)
• Picnic tables
• Campfires are not permitted at this campground
• Dogs are not permitted at this campground either