Tourism Kīlauea

view edge of kilauea iki: across caldera halemaumau crater lies smoking on left, , mauna loa towers above in background

the volcano became tourist attraction 1840s onwards, , local businessmen such benjamin pitman , george lycurgus ran series of hotels @ rim, including volcano house still hotel or restaurant located within borders of hawaiʻi volcanoes national park. in 1891, lorrin a. thurston, grandson of american missionary asa thurston , investor in hotels along volcano s rim, began campaigning park on volcano s slopes, idea first proposed william richards castle, jr. in 1903. thurston, owned honolulu advertiser newspaper, printed editorials in favor of idea; 1911 governor walter f. frear had proposed draft bill create kilauea national park . following endorsements john muir, henry cabot lodge, , former president theodore roosevelt (in opposition local ranchers) , several legislative attempts introduced delegate jonah kūhiō kalaniana ole, house resolution 9525 signed law woodrow wilson on august 1, 1916. 11th national park in united states, , first in territory; few weeks later, national park service organic act signed law, creating national park service , tasking running expanding system. called hawaii national park , split haleakala national park on 22 september 1960. today park, renamed hawaiʻi volcanoes national park, major conservatory agency , tourist attraction, and, since 1987, world heritage site.

in days tourism relatively new concept, grew before exploding advent of air travel around 1959, year hawaiʻi became state. today tourism driven island s exotic tropical locations, , kīlauea, being 1 of few volcanoes in world in more or less constant state of moderate eruption, major part of island s tourist draw. today, kīlauea visited 2.6 million people annually, of whom proceed volcano revamped kilauea visitor center near park entrance. thomas a. jaggar museum popular tourist stop; located @ edge of kīlauea caldera, museum s observation deck offers best sheltered view on volcano of activity @ halemaumau crater. volcano house still provides nearest lodging, , nearby volcano village numerous; visitors associated military can find lodging @ kilauea military camp. number of hiking trails, points of interest, , guided ranger programs exist, , chain of craters road, hilina pali road, , crater rim drive provide access. in 2008, lava viewing area opened tourists in kalapana on southeastern side of national park, accessible state route 130.