Devastation Trail

Devastation Trail is a 5/8 mile walk around landscape destroyed in the 1959 eruption of the nearby volcano. The trail is part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Island of Hawaii. Much of the forest is buried under two meters of pumice. Many of the trees during and for a few years after the eruption were leafless. The vegetation one can see now has grown back after the eruption. Some of the path is still blocked with cinders. It has ended access to the former Crater Rim Drive. The drive was buried by the eruption.

It takes about a half hour to walk the trail. It starts at Keanakako'I Overlook. Crater Rim Road meets the Chain of Craters Road on the right. There is a 40 mile road that descends 3,700 feet to the coast where the lava flow crossed the road in 1959. It takes 3 hours to drive the road. The trail offers a half mile of paved trail for wheelchairs and strollers. The rest of the path is uncovered. The car can be driven to Pu'u Pua'I Overlook a half mile from the path's entrance, where one can have a driver meet them. The other section of the trail leads to Byron Ledge Trail.