HAWAIʻI: hiking the Crater Rim Trail (West) | Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park [2.7k HD]

Whether you have two weeks or only three days in one or more of the beautiful islands that make up Hawaiʻi, visiting the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on Big Island is a must! The Crater Rim Drive itself is very accessible and is a great option for if you don't have a lot time to explore much of the park, with several parking lots along route leading to stunning overlooks of the Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) and Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Since we hiked the trail parallel to the road, we were able to walk alongside the Steaming Vents and Sulphur Banks as well.

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Hi! We are Andrew and Sophie, two best friends living in and primarily exploring the wonderful state of Colorado.

This is a relatively new, personal series. We take you on trails throughout the US to simply share what different trails look like. If you are planning to travel to any of these destinations, we hope these videos can help you in the planning stages of your hikes! Please keep in mind, trail conditions are highly dependent on weather, available parking, wildlife, trail work, including closures, and more. Overall, this is meant to be a down-to-earth series that keeps it simple, showcasing what trails have to offer.

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TRAIL INFORMATION

TRAIL: CRATER RIM TRAIL AND STEAMING BLUFFS, with SULPHUR BANKS
Trailhead: Kīlauea Visitor Center
Location: Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, HI (paid entry or membership pass into the National Park is required)

Trail Stats (via AllTrails):
4 to 6 miles OUT & BACK
430 to 500+ feet of elevation gain

Key notes for this trail:
Normal walking shoes are totally fine for this hike, but bring a rain jacket! You can see throughout this video that conditions changed on a dime
Ample parking available, but we visited Hawaii during one of its off seasons, and plenty of people were still around
Since this trail is right by a commonly used road, you will hear traffic throughout the hike
Please obey warning and closure signs, we saw several people disobeying these, including walking off trail to get a closer look of the crate; this is DANGEROUS as cliff edges may not be stable and is disrespectful to the ecosystem the park is trying to protect
Sulphur Banks is also accessible from the Kīlauea Visitor Center, you do not have to do the Crater Rim Trail to see this part of the park
The FULL Crater Rim Trail (expanding East) takes you to other key locations within the park while walking along the summit of the crater, but this requires the commitment to a full day of exploring

DISCLAIMER: Our stats (portrayed at the end of the video) are dependent on our personal hike, due to detours or backtracking, and may not reflect website profiles for this trail, such as AllTrails, or personal tracking devices that you may use for your hike.

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Camera: GoPro Hero 11 (no mic/lav attached)
Editing Software: Premiere Pro*
*wind editing corrected using Boris FX's WindRemover Complete extension
Title/Outro Cards: Created personally on Canva

As we continue this series, we will be upgrading our filming equipment.