My favorite place to go backpacking on the big island of Hawaii, is in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, hidden away from all the tourist on a beach only accessible by foot.
The camping spots are some of the few places in a National Park that allow you to camp close to water. The key is to not go during school holidays or three day weekends unless you like hanging out with college kids, then, by all means, go during spring break. The only problem is the park limits the number of people to a small group, it's something like less than 15 people a night per camp area. So good luck getting the backcountry permit on a peak day/weekend. To be honest, I like that they limit the amount of people each night, it makes it feel like I am mostly alone. When I went last year they said you could not reserve a permit until you walk in that day or day before. It's a risk but so worth it. This is the website, looks like they now require a 10$ fee for a permit, (grumble taxes good for nothing grumble).
So the best spots are Halapē and Keauhou They are pronounced Ha La Pae and Kay Ho, forgive me if I butchered that. After you get your BC permit drive down to Mau Loa o Mauna Ulu pull out on the main Chain of Craters Road elevation is 2680 ft. Drop off your stuff and stage your car at the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs pull out down the road; this is important if you have one car. If you try to hitch a ride back up to your car at the end of the trip, you will have a harder time finding a person who wants to give a smelly hiker a ride. The reason for staging the car at the petroglyphs pull out is you start at 2680 elevation and walk 7.7 miles down the mountain to Halapē, then east with no elevation change at sea level back out to your car. I like hiking new trails instead of hiking the same one in and out. It's well worth the hike down. I also like to hike downhill than uphill.
So Hike the Keauhou trail down to Halepe it is a nice easy hike down the hill, the lava rocks are unforgiving so be careful. This trail has some trees in the beginning but turns into open waist high grass for most of the way. Bring your sunscreen. The camping spots do have a water catchment system so you can refill your water; so bring a filtration system.
Side Note and shameful plug: I use the Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System, I hook the filter to the tube line of my CamelBak. You fill up the Camelbak with unfiltered water and then as you drink from the tube the filtration system filters the water. I find that I drink more water this way because I don't waste time pumping, yes I am lazy when I hike 9 miles a day, just fill up the Camelbak and go. Don't forget to clean the Camelbak out if you ever want to use it without the filter. Beaver fever is no Bueno.
This is my view from the old tent at Halape, awesome right? Side note and shameful warning: careful about setting up a tent under a coconut tree, coconuts fall and kill on average one person a year in Hawaii. Had a small coconut fall in the middle of the night and hit my tent, it grazed my leg but could have been bad if it hit me in the head.
Halape has some great spots to camp and pitch a tent, get there early, I hope you get something with a great view and I really hope you are the only one.
These carvings are a memorial to the people who died in a tsunami in 1975.
http://tsunami.org/8stories/narratives/13_michael_stearns_halape.html
Halape is an awesome spot to camp not much for swimming. I recommend 1-2 nights at Halape, the beaches are white sand and the sunsets are always ridiculous. This is the view out towards the south end of the big island.
After you get your fill of Halape it is a short 1.6-mile hike East to the Keauhou site. Keauhou is my favorite place to stay, it has a great place to snorkel. Oh, yea bring a snorkel; leave the fins if you really want to save some weight.
After you see the sign for 0.3 to Keauhou beach you will follow the trail and take the one that splits off to the right. It is closer to the coves that you can snorkel in, without worrying too much about the tide or surf. You can't go wrong with any of the spots it's all paradise.
Ok, let me rephrase that last sentence. (refer to picture above) See the dark black sand that looks wet, bottom right area? Do not pitch a tent in the sand that is wet!!! This is part of the high tide. On my last trip to Keauhou I found an empty soggy tent with soggy crap, some dingbat left it cus he didn't want to hike out all his soggy stuff. The sad part is, the high tide comes in late at night so this cat got a wet awakening. I reported it to the rangers, they said the guy lost his shoes in the tent flooding, ouch.
So most of the places to camp are perfect.
Once again get your fill of Keauhou and take the Puna Coast Trail East. You will want to top off all water containers as the 6.6-mile hike out can be brutal, and it is the last water station on your way out. If you get lucky it will be overcast, and the hike will go by fast, not so lucky if it's a clear hot day. With no shade, the heat radiates off the "new" lava rocks. The trail is part of a historic trail so ponder the fact that people have been using this trail for a long long time.
Trails are marked by stone cairns (ahu) that may be difficult to see in the rain and mist, and impossible to find in the dark
link
You travel over old lava and new lava, some of it is that crumbly stuff that's not fun on the ankles. If you have new boots on, they new no mo. The hike out is great, I love hiking close to the cliffs and getting cooled off by the spray of the ocean. Take your time and if you get lost keep big blue water on your right and big mountain on your left, walk till you find the road with cars.
You will pass one last camping spot, Apua point, it has a pit toilet but no water. It's nice to take a long break. Once you hike out to the road, drive down to the end of the road. I hear the lava is flowing into the sea now.
If you have any questions or need any tips I am glad to help. I never made it to any of the other spots in the park but I did gather some info. I loved this trip so much I had to come back and take it a second time.
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Thanks for reading