Exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Devil’s Throat Collapse Crater

by Donald B. MacGowan

They aren't kidding about Devil's Throat, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Graphic from Photo by Donald B MacGowan

There are many wondrous, enigmatic and fascinating attractions on the Big Island of Hawaii, some better known than others, many out of the way and generally off the beaten track.  Tour Guide Hawaii has produced an encyclopedic collection of the most up-to-date information, presented as short GPS-cued videos, in an app downloadable to iPhone and iPod Touch that covers the entire Big Island, highlighting the popular and the uncrowded, the famous and the secluded, the adventurous and the relaxing.

Devil’s Throat

Devil's Throat, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

Less than 1/10 of a mile southwest along Chain of Craters Road from the Hilina Pali Road turnoff is a small patch of bare ground, the parking spot for the unmarked Devil’s Throat collapse crater. Devil’s Throat is an excitingly vertically-sided pit crater that is worth the visit just for the “okole squeezing” peering down the throat will give you.

Devil's Throat lies along this lineament of large surface cracks, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

An unmarked, approximately 50 meter trail leads south east from the road along a prominent earth fracture to the 30 meter wide by 55 meter deep pit. Keep your eyes on the trail in front of you at all times as you approach. Do not allow children or exuberant adults run ahead, especially in the dark, fog or vog, as there are NO safety rails and absolutely NO warning the crater is coming up…one simply arrives, teetering, at the brink. Be extremely careful approaching the crater rim, as the edge is very unstable and prone to collapse. It is also an interesting hike to trace the prominent fracture lines back towards Hilina Pali on the northwest side of the road to the prominent fault escarpment.

There are no ejecta surrounding the crater indicating that Devil's Throat formed from collapse not explosion, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

Collapse pit craters are formed when magma is rapidly extruded from one portion of a subterranean magma chamber to another, or is erupted onto land. The ground above the recently evacuated portion of the magma chamber simply collapses. Essentially, the entirety of the land traversed by chain of Craters Road is pocked with these features.

The hiker comes upon Devil's Throat with absolutely no warning of the gaping pit yawing before them Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

Viewing and photography are best done at Devil’s Throat when the sun is high in the sky and the walls and bottom of the crater are not in shadow.

Frank Burgess is wise to keep well back from the lip of Devil's Throat, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

To see the new iPhone/iPod Touch App, please visit http://www.tourguidehawaii.com/iphone.html. The best of Tour Guide Hawaii’s free content about traveling to, and exploring, the Big island, can be found here.For more information on traveling to Hawaii in general and on touring the Big Island in particular, please also visit www.tourguidehawaii.com and www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com.

The trail to Devil's Throat is an unremarkable path along some prominent earth fractures, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

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All media copyright 2010 by Donald B. MacGowan. All rights reserved.

Looking Into Devil's Throat, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Graphic from Photo by Donald B MacGowan