Mauna Loa Forest Reserve and ‘slice’ reopen after being closed for volcano’s eruption

March 7, 2023, 12:44 PM HST
* Updated March 7, 12:51 PM

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The Mauna Loa Forest Reserve will reopen effective immediately, following months of being closed due to the volcano erupting for the first time in 38 years.

The state Division of Forestry and Wildlife also is immediately reopening Unit A of the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve and Game Management Area, located south of Daniel K. Inouye Highway across from the Gil Kahele Recreation Area, also known as the “slice.”

The Mauna Loa Forest Reserve, a massive 50,000-acre area, was closed on Nov. 28, 2022.

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The Division of Forestry and Wildlife asks that people stay off the 2022 lava flow to protect themselves from hazardous conditions. These include hot spots with high temperatures, ground with unstable footing and sharp lava rocks.

A roadblock was set up Nov. 28 at Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road) and the Mauna Loa Observatory Access Road due to the volcano eruption. Photo Credit: DLNR
On Dec. 12, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists observed only residual incandescence and no lava movement in the fissure 3 vent on the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa. The channels below the vent appear drained of lava and no longer feed the main flow front. Photo Credit: USGS/F. Trusdell.
Telephoto view of the fissure 3 lava channel on Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone, as seen by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crews the morning of Dec. 7. Channel velocities here, closer to the vent where the channels are narrow, have been measured at around 26-36 feet per second. U.S. Geological Survey image by M. Patrick.
A roadblock was set up Nov. 28 at Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road) and the Mauna Loa Observatory Access Road due to the volcano eruption. Photo Credit: DLNR