On the Big Island of Hawaii, east of Hawaii Volcanic National Park, deep in the jungle lies the smaller but equally amazing Lava Trees Park. Environmental scientists call Hawaiian lava trees a true miracle of nature.
Lava trees, which are charred outside and hollow inside the skeletons of trees that were in the path of the fiery stream during the eruption. As experts explain, when a rapidly moving lava flow meets a cool, moisture-saturated tree, it cools somewhat, and the tree is isolated from the rest of the flow. Thus, the internal moisture of the wood prevents the fire from immediately incinerating it. Most often, the tree eventually burns out, but in some cases, the lava flows around the tree and clears the area around it or flows into a crevice. In this case, a charred vertical frozen lava pillar remains in place of the once greening tree, completely repeating the contours of the dead tree.
Individual trees that are not burnt out to the base, after the retreat of the fiery stream, can even return to life and, after years, turn green again, at least partially. Such amazing pictures of trees scorched with lava can be seen in the Hawaiian Lava Trees Park.
The park - a stretch of Hawaiian jungle - got in the way of a lava flow in 1790, when the massive eruption of Kilauea, the world's most active volcano, took place.