Chain of Craters Road
Chain of Craters Road is a scenic drive in Hawaii. Within Hawaii it covers roughly 20 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Chain of Craters Road with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
This road descends nearly 4,000 feet through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, winding past a chain of old craters and across vast hardened lava flows to the Pacific. It ends abruptly where a lava flow buried the road, near a sea arch carved into the black coastal cliffs. Steam, fresh lava fields, and the raw volcanic landscape make it unlike any other drive in the country.
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
- chain of craters
- hardened lava flows
- Holei Sea Arch
- road buried by lava
Plan a drive on Chain of Craters Road →
About this drive
This is a scenic drive — a road worth taking for the views and the journey itself rather than the quickest line between two points.