The island of Hawaii is home to five volcanoes, three of which can be observed here in this orthorectified image. These are, clockwise from the upper right, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Hual?lai.

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano in the post-shield stage of volcanic evolution. Its peak is 13,803 feet (4,207 m) above sea level but 33,476 feet (10,203 m) above its base on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, making it the world’s tallest mountain by this measure. The rounded formations on its flanks are various cinder cones.

Mauna Loa is an active shield volcano, with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km³). Its peak, with an elevation of 13,679 feet (4,169 m), is about 120 feet lower than that of Mauna Kea.

Hual?lai is a dormant shield volcano with a peak at 8,271 feet (2,521 m) above sea level, much lower than those of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Although Hual?lai is not nearly as active as nearby Mauna Loa, geologic mapping of the volcano shows that 80 percent of Hual?lai’s surface is covered by lava flows no older than about 5,000 years.

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Hawaii has several hair-raising roads, including the sinuous Hana Highway and the switchbacks to the top of Haleakala. But the one that takes the cake is Saddle Road on the Big Island, which threads a vast lave-rock desert between two of the most imposing volcanoes anywhere in the planet. Long-time Big Island resident Jessica Ferracane says the Saddle is especially daunting after dark because there are no facilities, no lights, no nothing. “And if it’s foggy, Saddle can be harsh.”

Add a pinch of vertigo by taking one of the narrow side roads that run off The Saddle to the top of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The former is a whopper-a series of switchbacks and hairpins to the Onizuka Center for Astronomy at 9,300 feet. You can keep driving up an increasingly steep (and treacherous) road to the cluster of silver-domed observatories on the 14,000-foot summit, but you’ll need four-wheel drive to make the top.

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To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the eruption, a DVD has recently been released of the award-winning 1985 film, Rivers of Fire. Until now, this dramatic, 24-minute film has been available to the public only on VHS tape.

Rivers of Fire was filmed by Hawai’i Island videographers Jay Harada and Glenn Ege, written by Bruce Benson, narrated by legendary Hawai’i newsman Bob Sevey, and funded by the Hawai’i Natural History Association. The entertaining and educational film contains dazzling footage of the “curtains of fire” erupting at the summit and on the volcano’s flanks, as well as stunning scenes of huge rivers of lava gushing down the mountain at up to 35 miles per hour. It also explains interesting facts about Hawaiian volcanoes, including why we have the “hot spot” that causes our volcanic activity, and what the differences are between our two kinds of lava.

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