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+--- Thread: Free day at Volcano Jan 16 monday MLK day (/showthread.php?tid=22928)
Free day at Volcano Jan 16 monday MLK day - kimo wires - 01-08-2023
Hi All,
I'm just wondering what would be the best time to go on the first free day of the year? Any advise would be appreciated.
I'm sure It'll be busy.
Will there be enough parking in the afternoon before sunset?
Mahalo for replies.
RE: Free day at Volcano Jan 16 monday MLK day - Chas - 01-08-2023
The park is crowded every single day now, even before the latest eruption. It is always a challenge finding parking. If the lava is still going on, no, you won't find parking.
BTW, it's free if you go after the rangers at the entrance leave. Not sure when that is, but when I went at about 7:30pm, they weren't there. Best advice I can give is to go now, while the lava is still going on. It could be crusted over or stopped by the 16th. Go after 10, or better yet, after midnight.
When I say go now, I mean NOW. Like as soon as you read this (after dark though). The lava can stop at any time, and right now is the best I've seen at the summit in the over 20 years I've been going up there.
They will probably start staffing later to collect the entrance fee. As they should, and we all should pay. The park is a wonderful place and is deserving of the price of admission. I always get a yearly pass.
If you are unfamiliar with the layout, after you enter the park, go straight. Go past the visitor's center, military camp and steaming vents. Turn left at the Kilauea Overlook. There may be other places to see it, but it was spectacular on Thursday night and Friday morning.
Check the webcam before you go to make sure it's still worth driving up to.
https://www.usgs.gov/media/webcams/kwcam-halemaumau-and-down-dropped-caldera-floor-west-rim-summit-caldera-looking-east
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Take binoculars and a JACKET! It's in the 50's up there, with a stiff breeze.
RE: Free day at Volcano Jan 16 monday MLK day - Chas - 01-08-2023
I didn't get up in time to see the webcam before sunrise, but it looks pretty crusted over. That's how it is with lava. It starts out with a bang, then tapers off...