Private Volcanoes Eco Tour in Your Own Car: Pele's Tears and a Junior Ranger Badge

1 Crater Rim Dr W, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

After entering the National Park, keep right at the roundabout and carry on along Crater Rim Drive west. Volcano House is the second left after the roundabout: look for the big rock wall with the Volcano House sign on it. Text your guide if you cannot find the meeting location.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The private tour starts at the historic Volcano House hotel, inside the National Park. From there, a walk to the steam vents and the sulphur banks, where the heat of the volcano comes up out of the ground; through native rainforest to the Devastation Trail; and along the Chain of Craters Road, past old volcanic ground and rare rock formations.

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Nahuku - Thurston Lava Tube

A 500-year-old lava tube, with a detailed account of how lava tubes form and what is inside them. The walk to it goes through old-growth native forest.

Halemaumau Trail

The historic Halemaumau trail, walked with a professional guide, for the views into the summit caldera. Along the way, native plants, native birds, the geology specific to Hawaii, and the Hawaiian culture still practised on the volcano.

Steam Vents

The steam vents inside the National Park, where the geothermal heat is something you feel rather than read about. Good for photographs.

Sulphur Banks

A walk through this area with a professional guide, and the geochemistry that explains it, including how native plants have adapted to resist volcanic gases. The gas concentration here is low enough that the area is safe to explore.

Kilauea Iki Trail

The most popular trail in the National Park, walked with a professional guide, and the 1959 eruption that made it: the highest lava fountaining event in recorded history. The ground you cross has nothing growing on it.

Devastation Trail

Where the native rainforest was buried under volcanic debris in 1959. Pele's tears, olivine crystals and other unusual rock formations turn up here.

Chain of Craters Road

The Chain of Craters Road, with stops like Lua Manu, and what pit craters mean on Kilauea volcano.

The best location to see the active summit eruption when…

The best place to see the active summit eruption when lava is visible, with the guide's binoculars and spotting scopes for a closer look.

Kilauea Visitor Center

A quick stop at the Visitors Center if you want it, for park merchandise or a good local book on the volcano or on Hawaiian culture. This is also where the Junior Ranger programmes get picked up for guests with younger children. The guide helps your child work through it, and there is an official Junior Ranger badge at the end of the tour.

Holei Sea Arch

An easy walk along the coastal part of the volcano for a photograph of the Holei Sea Arch, and a word on the native sea birds.

Volcano Art Center Gallery

A stop at this art gallery, which is the original Volcano House Hotel, the oldest hotel in the state.