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Pu‘u Pua‘i Overlook And Parking Lot Closed To Protect Nēnē

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By NPT Staff - December 11th, 2018
hawaii national park, volcano, nene, goose

A fluffy young nēnē gosling rests in grass near its parents/ NPS Photo/J.Ferracane

The Pu‘u Pua‘i Overlook and parking lot at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park are temporarily closed to protect breeding and nesting nēnē (endangered Hawaiian geese) in the area. 

The gate is secured at the entrance to the Pu‘u Pua‘i parking lot, near the intersection of Chain of Craters Road and Crater Rim Drive. Visitors are able to hike about 0.4 miles of Devastation Trail from the Devastation Trail parking lot to a trail sign marking the closure. In 1952, only 30 nēnē remained statewide. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park began efforts to recover the imperiled geese in the 1970s. The Nēnē Recovery Program continues today, and more than 200 birds thrive in the park from sea level to around 8,000 feet. The nēnē has been designated as Hawaii's State Bird.

Pu‘u Pua‘i is a massive reddish-brown cindercone that formed during an eruption at Kīlauea Iki crater in 1959. Evidence of this eruption is visible in the form of small tephra cinders that blanket the ground along Crater Rim Drive towards Keanakāko‘i Crater. 

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