Tourists Kept Away as Kilauea Lava Cools on Highway

Black lava from Kilauea Volcano covering more than half a mile of highway crackled and hissed as it cooled Wednesday, and county officials said it would be at least Saturday before sightseers would be given closer access.

The lava has burned an eight-mile path from the volcano to the sea on the south side of the island of Hawaii, destroying 11 homes and causing an estimated $1.7 million in damage.

An erupting lava pond eight miles up the hillside has stopped feeding the massive flow, with lava instead flowing northeast, geologists said.

Kilauea’s lengthy eruption has made the Kalapana area a major tourist attraction.

Tour buses regularly pass through the tiny village here, stopping at the police roadblock half a mile down the coastal Kalapana Highway so sightseers can take pictures of the lava-scarred hillside.