Devastation Trail
in Hawaii
The Devastation Trail stretches from the parking lot at the Devastation Trailhead to Puʻupuaʻi Overlook,via a one-mile (1.6 km) round-trip walk on a paved path. The area was blanketed in cinders from the 1,900-foot tall lava fountains during the 1959 eruption of Kīlauea Iki. The trail provides views of the new cinder cone, Puʻupuaʻi, that developed during the five-week eruption.
Stay on the paved trail. Do not climb the cinder cone. Endangered nēnē (Hawaiian geese) frequent this area. Please use caution when parking. Don't feed the nēnē.
- States
- Hawaii
- Trail type
- National Park trail
- Centroid coords
- 19.4065°, -155.2529°
About Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
This trail is inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $30 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/devastation-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Devastation Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Maunaiki Trail
5 miles from this trail's centroid
Kona Trail
35 miles from this trail's centroid
The Palm Trail
36 miles from this trail's centroid
N - Mauka-Makai Trail
42 miles from this trail's centroid
1871 Trail Tour Conclusion
42 miles from this trail's centroid
J - Shoreline Viewpoint on the 1871 Trail
43 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.