Contact: Jessica Ferracane, 808-985-6018 Hawaii National Park, Hawai'i - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park invites everyone to join special hikes and programs offered at the park during National Park Week, April 20-28. Entrance fees are waived Monday through Friday, April 22-26. This year's theme, "Did You Know," provides a fun way to get to know the park, for both visitors and local residents. For example, did you know that Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is 520 square miles, nearly as large as the entire island of O'ahu (597 square miles)? The special, free programs during National Park Week include the following. Please wear sturdy hiking shoes and long pants. Bring a hat, raingear, day pack, snacks and water. Kīlauea Iki Crater Hike. Join master ranger volunteer Charlene Meyers on an invigorating four-mile, three-hour hike through the rain forest and onto the crater floor of Kīlauea Iki. Learn how the 1959 eruption forever changed this landscape. Amazing Mauna Ulu. Explore fascinating volcanic features like fissures and lava trees that were formed during the 1969-74 Mauna Ulu eruption with master ranger volunteer Noel Eberz. The one-mile, one-hour round-trip hike will highlight the amazing process of plant survival on this harsh lava landscape. Pu'uloa Petroglyphs. Join Park Ranger Adrian Boone for a two-hour, 1.5-mile round-trip trek across ancient lava flows to the largest petroglyph field in Hawai'i. Discover the meanings inherent in these rock carvings and gather a greater understanding of the native people who created them. NPS Volunteer Day. Save Hawai'i's native rainforest, and join forces with volunteers Jane and Paul Field to remove Himalayan ginger, faya, strawberry guava, and other invasive non-native plants that threaten the native understory alongside Halema'uma'u Trail. Bring garden gloves. Wear sturdy hiking shoes and long pants. Bring a hat, raingear, day pack, snacks and water. There are also regularly scheduled programs in the park, and at the Kahuku Unit during National Park Week. For a complete listing, visit the park website: https://www.nps.gov/havo/parknews/20130319_pr.htm. In addition, the Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park has special programs during National Park Week: http://fhvnp.org/events/. The National Park Service will waive entrance fees again on July 13 (Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park's 33rd Annual Cultural Festival), August 25 (NPS Birthday), Sept. 28 (National Public Lands Day) and Nov. 9-11 (Veteran's Day weekend). Hawai'i Volcanoes is one of five national park units on Hawai'i Island. Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park is also free of charge on the NPS fee-free 2013 dates. There is no admission at Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, or along the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. -NPS- |
Last updated: February 28, 2015