I followed this route last week. I think the description "Continuing up the mountain the trail crosses the same 4-wheel drive road and after a short distance, again meets up with the road but this time the trail makes a sharp right and follows the road until it reaches a locked gate"
should say "sharp left" which is consistent with the 2.2 mile description and what I did last week. I left your route description at my hotel by mistake, and almost missed this left turn. As I proceeded up a bit, I was unable to see the next cairn, and eventually spotted a cairn marking the left turn that gets you to the road.
The weather was relatively nice until I got to the crater rim, and ok until the summit. Then there was light to medium rain for much of my descent, with temps in the 40's. I was able to see at least one cairn during my descent, and normally two. I took some picture and will post a few this weekend.
We drove from the Kona side of the island. In the dark the right turnoff to this road was extremely difficult to spot. As a result we drove a couple of miles toward Hilo before turning around to see where we had gone wrong. Aha! From the Hilo side there is a left turn lane after the 27 mile marker (but only a smallish sign indicating where the turn leads). If coming from the Kona side look for the right hand turn immediately after passing the Mauna Kea Access Road. In the daylight this turn was MUCH easier to spot. Now, that said, for planning purposes allot 40-45 minutes from the Saddle Road to the Observatory parking spaces. This one lane road itself is quite nice but as has been mentioned the ups and downs and frequent turns provide many opportunities for a head-on collision if one is traveling much faster than 15 mph. The posted speed limit is 20 mph; there were only a few times we felt comfortable driving much faster than 20-25 mph.
larryN - Apr 14, 2015 8:23 pm - Voted 10/10
Nice route descriptionI followed this route last week. I think the description "Continuing up the mountain the trail crosses the same 4-wheel drive road and after a short distance, again meets up with the road but this time the trail makes a sharp right and follows the road until it reaches a locked gate"
should say "sharp left" which is consistent with the 2.2 mile description and what I did last week. I left your route description at my hotel by mistake, and almost missed this left turn. As I proceeded up a bit, I was unable to see the next cairn, and eventually spotted a cairn marking the left turn that gets you to the road.
SkydiveKen - Apr 14, 2015 10:09 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice route descriptionThanks for the update LarryN. How was the weather? Did you take any pictures?
larryN - Jun 27, 2015 2:20 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Nice route descriptionThe weather was relatively nice until I got to the crater rim, and ok until the summit. Then there was light to medium rain for much of my descent, with temps in the 40's. I was able to see at least one cairn during my descent, and normally two. I took some picture and will post a few this weekend.
Moogie737 - Apr 20, 2021 8:31 am - Voted 10/10
Observatory access roadWe drove from the Kona side of the island. In the dark the right turnoff to this road was extremely difficult to spot. As a result we drove a couple of miles toward Hilo before turning around to see where we had gone wrong. Aha! From the Hilo side there is a left turn lane after the 27 mile marker (but only a smallish sign indicating where the turn leads). If coming from the Kona side look for the right hand turn immediately after passing the Mauna Kea Access Road. In the daylight this turn was MUCH easier to spot. Now, that said, for planning purposes allot 40-45 minutes from the Saddle Road to the Observatory parking spaces. This one lane road itself is quite nice but as has been mentioned the ups and downs and frequent turns provide many opportunities for a head-on collision if one is traveling much faster than 15 mph. The posted speed limit is 20 mph; there were only a few times we felt comfortable driving much faster than 20-25 mph.