According to one Hawaiian legend, Pele, goddess of fire, was routed from her original home on the small island of Ni’ihua and chased from place to place by the goddess of the sea, creating an arc of islands as she went. At last, Pele found a place where she could settle: in the Kilauea caldera on the big island of Hawai’i.

Today, Pele’s home is part of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and Kilauea is the world’s most active volcano. It shares the park with the earth’s most massive volcano, Mauna Loa.

With a volume of 19,000 cubic miles, Mauna Loa has more than 100 times the mass of Mount Rainier in Washington state. It is the second tallest mountain in the world, rising 13,677 feet above the sea and descending more than eight miles below. During the past 1,100 years, its lava has covered more than 1,000 square miles.

Kilauea is considerably smaller at only 4,000 feet. But because it has been almost continuously active for over 100 years, its lava has covered nearly 500 square miles in the same amount of time.

These volcanoes are evidence that the earth’s primordial forces are still at work. The outermost layer of the earth is divided into rigid plates, with a more plastic mantle beneath. Most volcanic activity occurs along the edge of these plates. However, as in the case of the Hawai’i volcanoes, activity sometimes occurs in the middle of a plate.

Magma rises from a hot spot deep within the mantle, melting the plate above and pushing its way to the surface, where it erupts on the ocean floor as a seamount. As it continues to erupt over thousands of years, it builds up layer upon layer of lava until it rises above the sea to form an island.

A volcanic island will continue to grow until the plate shifts, forcing it off the hot spot. For the last 70 million years, the Pacific plate has moved the Hawai’ian islands northwest of their hot spot at the rate of about four inches per year. And even while Mauna Loa and Kilauea continue to build the big island, the new seamount of Lo’ihi is rising from the ocean floor 20 miles to the southeast.

During eruptions, Kilauea and Mauna Loa produce fiery fountains and rivers of molten lava. In contrast to explosive continental volcanoes, they are less gaseous and more fluid, making it somewhat safer for both scientists and civilians to observe them in action and to study elements of the dramatic landscapes they create.

Lava - Solidified lava, ranging in color from dull brown to shiny black, can be found throughout Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The ‘a’a variety is rough and chunky; pahoehoe, which is hotter and more fluid when it erupts, is smooth and ropy.

Lava Tube - A tunnel forms when the surface of a lava flow cools and solidifies, while the still-molten interior flows through and drains away.

Pit Craters - Depressions that occur when underlying lava drains away, pit craters can occur both in the summit region and along rift zones. They give the name to Chain of Craters Road, which leads from the summit of Kilauea to the sea.

Steam Vents - As magma nears the surface, it can heat groundwater sufficiently to form steam, which then escapes through cracks in lava. This generally occurs in the summit region and along rift zones. The steam’s visibility is affected by air temperature and humidity.

Sulphur Banks - Sulphur deposits may be seen in or near the Kilauea caldera. They are left as volcanic gases seep out with groundwater steam.

Kipuka - Lava flowing downhill sometimes parts and goes around areas of land, leaving them untouched but isolated. Within these kipuka, interesting native plants and animals have evolved.

Na Pali - These are cliffs that normally form slowly over long periods of time, but they may change by several feet when ground suddenly shifts along fault lines. Spectacular na pali can be seen by visitors descending the Chain of Craters Road.

Black Sand - When hot lava reaches the sea, it shatters into black sand. Ocean currents can carry the black sand and deposit it along protected parts of the coast, forming unstable black sand beaches. Such beaches may last from a few days to a few centuries.

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park was created to preserve not only Kilauea and Mauna Loa but also the complex and unique ecosystems around them.

For example, one of America’s few native rain forests is located on the windward side of Kilauea, where more than 100 inches of rain fall annually. There, ‘ohi’a lehua trees form a protective canopy over hapu’u tree ferns. Ancient Hawai’ians used the brown silky hair covering the tree ferns’ unfurled fronds for embalming the dead. And during the mid-1800s, the fibers were exported to the mainland, where they were used to stuff mattresses and pillows.

Kipuka Puaulu, on the northeast rift of Mauna Loa, preserves rare endemic plants, birds and insects. Its large koa trees provide habitat for ferns and climbing peperomia that root in the moist bark. Native birds residing within the kipuka include elepaio and three honeycreepers (amakihi, apapane and iiwi), all sparrow sized and brightly colored. And not long ago, a new species of spider was discovered living in a lava tube there.

The National Park Service has an ongoing program to control non-native species, such as feral pigs that destroy plants and abandoned domestic cats and mongooses that threaten pelagic birds and hawksbill turtles nesting on the park’s beaches.

In addition to reducing predator populations, the park service is moving campsites away from nesting sites and educating the public about disposing of garbage that attracts predators.

Whether viewing volcanoes or watching wildlife, visitors have a variety of means for exploring Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Helicopter flights over the park and horseback rides into its depths are among the options available.

Drivers and bicyclists can take the relatively level Crater Rim Road, an 11-mile loop around the Kilauea caldera. Well marked stops offer looks at sulphur banks, steam vents and craters, easy walks through the rain forest and the Thurston lava tube, or a visit to the Jaggar Museum, which screens videos of eruptions and displays seismic equipment.

However, many visitors feel that the best way to experience the park is on foot. More than 150 miles of trails provide hikes that range from short and simple to serious back country treks.

Devastation Trail is a paved half-mile path over barren and desolate ground. Dead ‘ohi’a trees, stripped bare and sun bleached white, are a stark contrast to the black cinder and pumice strewn landscape. All living things in the area were wiped out in a 1959 eruption of Kilauea.

Near the beach end of Chain of Craters Road, Puu Loa Trail leads a mile inland to a field of petroglyphs carved into the lava by early Hawai’ians. A walkway runs around the site, which is one of the largest concentrations of petroglyphs in Hawai’i.

For experienced backpackers, Napau-Kalapana Trail and Halape Trail offer 14-mile two-day round trips. Halape, which requires a back country permit, starts at the end of Hilina Pali Road and descends 2,200 feet to a small beach. Hikers are advised to carry plenty of water and to be prepared for heat and high humidity.

No matter how a visitor gets around, it doesn’t take long to discover the natural assets that prompted the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to name Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980. Seven years later, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site.