The road begins at the highest part of the eastern rift zone where frequent rains created a rainforest. down the road is the vent of Kīlauea volcano. The road goes another , passing the group of craters for which the road is named, and then crosses a narrow flow of pāhoehoe lava that erupted in 1974, before it reaches Lua Manu, the first pit crater. The crater formed through a sinking of the earth surface and not as a vent for lava.
