There are 4 parks operated by the National Park Service on the Big Island. You can easily see them all in one trip. Two have park entrance fees and two do not. Active military can get a free annual pass good for ALL National Parks. These four were all different, all beautiful and all educational.

Don't be fooled by the appearance. Start your walk by viewing the petroglyphs - lots of history! Then an easy walk down to the beach where you are more than likely to see turtles at the shoreline. Look for the 2 ponds - the first one is relatively easy to get to. The second one is quite a walk along... More

Loved it here as well as the history, but well worth seeing the turtles laying on the beach. Got some great pictures and the drive was fun on the way here.

This was a great walk through lava, complete with petroglyphs - ending in a lovely little beach with tidal pools and wildlife - It was an easy but hot walk.

Area to hike away from crowds and enjoy surf from lava beach. Great snorkeling at '2 step' just a few minutes from the park. Best if enjoyed early in the day (as early as 8) before too hot or crowded.

It was a very nice walk to a long sandy beach. There were petroglyphs along the way which were very interesting. On the beach we saw numerous sea turtles sunning themselves. The only negative was the approximately two mile walk in the sun on the lava rock trail. It was a little challenging and definitely not for young children. Other... More

Many others have rated. We were there near 3:30 pm, so spent just a bit at the visitors center (LOVELY sweet woman there that we enjoyed visiting with) that encouraged us to park at the harbor and walk in, as the gate closed at 4. 2 of us hiked to the beach (petroglyphs quite difficult to enjoy in mid-day) while... More

It's a 1 1/2 mile walk from the visitor centre to the beach.... lovely quite natural beach with some sunbathing turtles. We did see 2 people snorkeling but it's not really the type of beach for swimming. We walked quite a distance along the beach and chatted to some locals walking their dogs. We went back another day from Honokohau... More

This park is spread out over a pretty good distance. We had to travel by car to see the fish ponds and then to the beach where the sea turtles are. The staff was great and very enthusiastic. There are lots of sea turtles to see at the beach. The main theme of this park is to see how the... More