Kilauea Crater Rim Drive

1. Kilauea Visitor Center
2. Sulphur Banks
3. Steam Vents and Steaming Bluff
4. Kilauea Overlook
5. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory & Jaggar Museum
6. Southwest Rift Zone
7. Halemaumau Overlook
8. Keanakakoi Overlooks
9. Puu Puai Overlook
10. Thurston Lava Tube
11. Kilauea Iki Overlook

Crater Rim Drive, Stop 3 - Steam Vents and Steaming Bluff

Low amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are released at Steam Vents. An intrusion of magma beneath this area elevated local ground temperatures causing plants with deep root systems to die. Highly fractured rocks and a deep water table prevent hot springs and geysers from forming. The steam at Steaming Bluff is generated under the same conditions as Steam Vents. Kamapuaa, a half-pig half-man demigod, would stand at Steaming Bluff and call to his lover Pele, the Goddess of Fire.