Petroglyphs in lava rock at Pu'uloa along Chain of Craters road, in the Volcanoes National Park.
1200494920
ancient, archeology, art, artwork, carving, chain, civilization, craters, culture, draw, drawing, hawaii, hawaiian, heritage, hill, historic, history, icon, indigenous, island, landmark, lava, loa, long, message, national, native, old, outdoors, park, petroglyph, polynesian, pu'u, pu'uloa, puu, puuloa, road, rock, sacred, spiritual, states, stone, symbol, travel, tribal, tropical, united, usa, volcano, writing

©David G Hayes/Shutterstock

Puʻu Loa Petroglyphs

Top choice in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park


The gentle, 1.3-mile round-trip to Puʻu Loa (roughly, 'hill of long life') leads to one of Hawaiʻi's largest concentrations of ancient petroglyphs, some over 800 years old. Here Hawaiians chiseled more than 23,000 drawings into pahoehoe (smooth-flowing lava) with adz tools quarried from Keanakakoʻi. Stay on the boardwalk – not all petroglyphs are obvious, and you might damage some if you walk over the rocks. The trailhead parking is signed between Miles 16 and 17 on Chain of Craters Road.

There are abstract designs, animal and human figures, as well as thousands of dimpled depressions (or cupules) that were receptacles for piko (navels). Placing a baby's piko inside a cupule and covering it with stones bestowed health and longevity on the child. Archaeologists believe a dot with a circle around it was for a first born, while two circles were reserved for the first born of an ali`i (chief).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park attractions

1. End of the Road

1.56 MILES

Sort of. The road ends where the lava says it ends, having consumed this coastal section of Chain of Craters Road repeatedly since 1969. Currently there…

2. Holei Sea Arch

1.6 MILES

Constantly brutalized by unrelenting surf, the coastal section of Chain of Craters Road has sharply eroded lava-rock pali (cliffs). Visible from near the…

3. Kealakomo

3.12 MILES

About halfway along Chain of Craters Road is this coastal lookout (elevation 2000ft), with picnic tables and commanding views. That inky black snake's…

4. Old Pulu Factory

5.74 MILES

Ancient Hawaiians used pulu, the golden, silky fibers found at the base of hapuʻu (tree fern) fiddleheads, to dress wounds and embalm the dead. In the…

5. Makaopuhi Crater

5.77 MILES

This jaw-dropping, mile-long crater is the largest in the East Rift Zone. Although once accessible by road, it's now 5 miles along the Napau Crater Trail,…

6. Puʻu ʻOʻo

6.67 MILES

Puʻu ʻOʻo vent saw the longest-lasting and most voluminous of the Kilauea's eruptions, oozing an estimated 80 to 160 million gallons of lava per day, or…

7. ʻAlae Lava Shield

6.99 MILES

The once-awesome ʻAlae crater did not go easily. The Mauna Ulu eruption had just filled the 1440ft-wide and 540ft-deep crater with a lake of molten lava…

8. Mauna Ulu

7.29 MILES

In 1969, eruptions from Kilauea's East Rift Zone began building a new lava shield, Mauna Ulu (Growing Mountain). By the time the flow stopped in 1974, it…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "usa/hawaii/hawai-i-volcanoes-national-park/attractions/pu-u-loa-petroglyphs/a/poi-sig/454409/1333405",
      "destination": "Hawaiʻi-Volcanoes-National-Park",
      "continent": "North-America",
      "country": "USA",
      "region": "Hawaiʻi-Volcanoes-National-Park",
      "position": "superzone"
    }