Kaliko P.
Yelp
We drove from Volcanos, specifically Volcano Village Estates in Volcanos as a day trip to the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station, from the Visitor's station to Waimea/Kamuela (Big Island Brew Haus), then to Paauilo (Hawaiian Vanilla Company) , Tex Drive Inn (Malasadas) on the Hamakua Coast and back to the Volcano Village Estates at the end of the day, several hundreds of miles.
The drive up Saddle Road was smooth and paved, nothing like how my husband remembered it several decades ago when it was a rough, pot-holed, one-laned road in both directions back in the 90's - now a smooth transition from Hilo/Volcanoes up to the Visitor Center.
There were a few tents there at the base of Mauna Kea from the protests that erupted a few years ago, but there wasn't anyone to stop us from going up to the visitor's center this time.
The road up was clear, with a bunch of twisty, turning roads that we had to put the car into low gear to prevent strain on the car, but other than that, no problems getting to visitor's center. If you want to drive to summit, you will need a 4-wheel drive and will need to get your vehicle checked out by the rangers at the visitor's center before proceeding up.
The Visitor's Center was a small place with a small historical side off to the right, a shop on the left and bathrooms in the back of the parking area. The people manning the shop were super friendly. Keith and Pua (?) were both graduates of Roosevelt High School (Oahu) and somehow managed to end up 9,200 ft above the clouds spreading cheer and joy to whomever walk into the Visitor's Center.
I ended up buying a cool University of Hawaii Astronomy shirt on a guess in size (no fitting rooms) and some "astronaut ice cream" (freeze-dried ice cream) for the kid. Used the bathroom off to the side of the parking lot; Women's bathroom had weird red lights in them, and I wanted to ask the rangers or anyone else why the red lights, but didn't get to do so, and now it's still a mystery, so if anyone knows, please shoot me a message.
We didn't do the hike from the parking lot up to the small hill summit as suggested by the kind shop keepers as we were wanting to get going, and the main reason is that husband did not bring a jacket and it was probably upper 40's and 50's in late April. It is very cold up there, take a jacket!!
The drive down was a bit more challenging with the fog rolling in, and having to go down slowly in low gear as it was very steep (and foggy).
Next time we come back, we will take a 4 WD just to get to the summit to watch the sunset and the stars! This is a must on my bucket list, so stay tuned, we will be back!