Originally Posted by
EasternTraveler
If you want to see lava, you are going to need an airplane or helicopter. Helicopter tours are better and you see more. You also get a video of the trip with you in it, if you want it.
Not only is it a long, unsafe and uneven walk. You will have to cross "Do not go beyond this point" ropes to get there by foot. Park service will frown on this to say the least. You can see it with a telescope from one point at the end of the road in the park. Better seen at night, bring telescope and/or camera with tripod and minimum 800 mm lens....
This is not true. You can hike the lava fields of Kalapana safely alone or with a local tour group (Arnott's runs a good tour) with adequate preparation, research and common sense. In addition, the Kalapana viewing area (outside the Park boundary) is open and supervised in the evenings for twilight and night walks to view the lava flows and ocean entry. Depending on current conditions, you can get close enough to the lava to dip your tripod in if you so choose.
Conditions change daily, and one should plan a flexible Big Island itinerary to allow for land-based lava viewing when conditions are just right.
A helicopter tour is a nice way to see the Island's highlights from a different perspective - and is currently the only legal way to view the active craters.