Life should be that easy. Can you imagine the difficulty of bird watching while there’s a flowing volcano nearby? Remarkably, it works out quite well, thank you.

First, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is loaded with exotic species of birds. Having the volcano nearby simply keeps you alert.

There’s no question that Volcanoes National Park is a sightseers delight. Hiking trails abound. Amazingly, so does wild life. For bird watchers, the area is remarkably abundant with a variety of birds, and the rarest fauna and flora (the twin girls my brother dated in high school—Fauna and Flora Kaleikini).

The volcano area has over 150 miles of trails that cover every kind of terrain and environment in the Park. Hills. Mountains. Valleys. Gulches. Cliffs. Forests. Mountains of lava (cold) and streams of lava (flowing and hot).

To enjoy bird watching on this side of the island you’ll need a few things: Did I mention sun screen? You need that. Bring sturdy walking shoes with a heavy sole. You’ll also require long pants (optional, depending on how deep into the forests you go), a walking stick (not really a necessity; I just think they’re cool), and plenty of drinking water. A hat will come in handy, too.

Should I assume that if you’re a bird watcher that you’ll also bring a camera and some binoculars? Good.

The most unusual trail in the area is Kilauea Iki. Remember, the volcano is named Kilauea, too—so the connection here is for a reason. Kilauea Iki’s trail will take about four hours to walk even though it’s only a little more than 6 miles in length. Trails tend to meander a bit.

You’ll start at the Thurston Lava Tube (named after inventor Charles Tadworth Thurston, inventor of the 1960s lava lamp) parking lot. From here you’ll walk 400 or 500 feet down through rain forest to reach the crater floor.

Here’s where it gets cool. Well, not cool, per se. More like HOT.

Assuming you’re still moving forward, the next stop is the crater floor—and what looks like a nuclear war zone. You’ll walk across brittle, hardened lava that sounds like the crunching of potato chips (the Lays wavy kind).

“So why didn’t we start watching birds on the Sandalwood Trail first, instead of burning feet along Kilauea Iki?”The ground beneath your feet (we hope the ground is beneath your feet, otherwise, there’s trouble ahead) will be toasty warm, if not hot. You’ll hear steam vents hiss and see birds fly overhead.

The birds are smart. They don’t walk on volcano crater floors.

If you’re still a bird watcher at this point, you’ll notice that most of the birds have headed over to the Sandalwood Trail—many birds, short hiking trail, half an hour—max.

So why didn’t we start watching birds on the Sandalwood Trail first, instead of burning feet along Kilauea Iki? What do you want to tell your children? You saw a bird in the woods?

Or you walked across a volcano?

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