Watch your footing at the far end where you'll need to scramble over sharp-edged lava rock. The trail climbs up and out of the crater at this point to cross to the Kilauea caldera. Descend to the crater floor again, crossing a shorter distance to Volcano House, where most of the sightseeing buses stop. Volcano House offers a restaurant and a gift shop as well as hotel rooms. A fast runner can do the full length of this Volcano Run in less than an hour, although if you run too fast you'll miss the sights.
Walkers can make the trip in two hours or less.
We were very careful not to shout this phrase crossing the crater. On marathon day, you'll run pass Diamond Head on the ocean road at 6 miles going and 25 miles coming back. One of the favorite workouts for local runners, as well as visitors before the marathon, is a loop that begins in Kapiolani Park and circles Diamond Head, a distance of 5.0 miles. On the downside of Diamond Head Road, you'll come to a triangular park where the marathon course goes straight, but you go left. Most visiting runners, however, circle Diamond Head without realizing that a side road on the backside near Fort Rugger leads through a tunnel through into the crater.