Site Index    

 Best of the Big Island   Big Island Attractions   Big Island Beaches   Hawaii Volcanoes National Park    

Kipuka Puaulu ("Bird Park") in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is one of the less-visited areas of the park. A kipuka forms when lava flows around a small hill leaving the vegetation on the higher altitude unharmed. As a result of this process, Bird Park formed as a small area of older-growth forest on Mauna Loa road just northwest of the Crater Rim Road loop. If you come here early in the morning, it is possible to see and hear a number of birds, including large ground-nesting birds, by walking the 1.2 mile, easy, unpaved trail through the area.