As of June 2019, the center is closed due to construction. However, if you get there before 3pm you can still use the restrooms. No matter what time you arrive, there are tons of signs on the building displaying information that is important to know before continuing up to the summit. The center is easy to pass when heading up, but if you’ve hit a dirt road, you’ve gone to far. It’s recommended to stay at the visitors center for at least 30 minutes to acclimate. We arrived around 4-430pm and the lot was starting to get crowded with people wanting to head up for sunset. Amazing amazing amazing experience and so worth everything to get up there!!

Enjoyed the small Visitors Center on Mauna Kea. Staffed with people who were very friendly and polite and knowledgeable! We didnt plan to go all the way to the summit and couldnt even if we wanted to. Roads were icy due to rain during the night. The views going up and coming down were impressive! Enjoyed chatting with the staff!

Just stunning! If you have a chance visit the summit for a sunset. Absolutely awe inspiring.

I didnt get a chance to visit the centre unfortunately because it closed at 5pm and I had planned to arrive at 6 p.m. just in time to catch the sunset. Just park in the visitors parking lot and follow the crowd up to a nearby hill where youll be treated to a spectacular view of the surrounding valley as well as the sunset behind another mountain bathed in clouds. Its very cold so bundle up!

The sunset and stars were beautiful from this spot. It gets crowded so arrive before sunset.

Great place. Take a look at mauna kea observatory for more details on how to get there.

Got there for the sunrise. Last stop with paved road then it gets a bit tricky especially if you dont have a 4WD

This is another MUST stop on the Big Island even if you only go to the lower level observation and information area. On Thursday, 3/7/19, at 9200 feet, we were above the clouds, literally. There is a hiking area and in 30 to 45 minutes, you can drive to the summit that is over 13,000 feet above sea level. Not too often does one see clouds from above while standing on the ground.There is a gift shop and information station with restrooms at the lower observation station.

Noon to 9:30pm.If you’d like to see the small exhibit inside and gift shop, better time your drive up here during they are open. There are cups & water station with a microwave outside the center (covered area). Bathrooms were open at 10 am. Some guidebooks stated open at 9 am (incorrect). We noticed in Hawaii that many park or business hours change constantly perhaps due to labor shortages or demands of visitors).A short hike across the street (sunset hill) is quite nice with better view below on a clear day.It’s very cold up here at 9200 ft altitude. As we did our travel research before coming to Hawai’i, so we packed down jackets and wool hats for our trip up here.It’s quite surprising to see so many tourists (not travelers?) come here & Volcano National Park without rain gear/cold weather outfits.

Make sure to bring warm clothing. Toilet here also closed at around 4/5pm i believe.If you dont have a proper 4 wheel drive (one with actual 4WD low gear), you wont be able to get up to the submit. However, at the mid point, there is a mini peak 10 minutes walk away where you can hike up and wait for the sunset /stars to come up. Not to be missed!

Site currently closed (June 2019) for construction - check status before driving up. Typically very crowded in the hours before and after sunset. Bathrooms and parking are insufficient for the volume of traffic during peak hours. Otherwise, good rest stop before proceeding to the summit; BEST stargazing location; very informative videos/personnel. Ive been here at least a dozen times. Bring a blanket and snacks to better enjoy evening visits. Drive carefully, stay safe, and be friendly :) Moon photo taken on my personal telescope.

Breath taking view of the land. Worth a trip up there during the day.

The last stop before you head up the summit. Remember to stay here for at least 30 minutes to get your body acclimated with the altitude. Might as well bring your food as well, there are picnic tables on the area. You can also take short trails across the building. From here youll still have panoramic views. The rangers are helpful. Just ensure that you have a 4-wheel drive, you dont have heart-related issues, are not pregnant before ascend - they all ask these question. Youve been warned.

The first close encounter with the universe, driving through clouds to the top of a mountain. Be sure to drive a four-wheel drive. The road is steep, but a camaro is seen coming up.

Up there and blooming. It blooms once every 45 years. The Silver Sword plant is

Awesome views! Great programs like star gazing and presentations.

Great location to look at the stars. Got a glimpse of the Milky Way. The staff are very knowledgeable. It can get cold - it was 35° F on our visit. Got to see a celestial body 12 million light years away.

One of the best things I did on vacation was coming to the visitor center for a beautiful sunset. The views were amazing!!!

The center is closed due to pandemic, but Park Rangers were nearby to lend assistance and provide information.

My favorite hike on the big island

Very informative, educational, and respectful staff and support. The staff prepares you well for the trip to the summit, do heed their advice and recommendations. Mauna Keas summit conditions should never be underestimated or taken lightly. Safety is paramount at 13000+ ft elevation.

The experience made an indelible impression on me. it was located at an altitude of 2,800m. all except the sun and the top was below my feet. it was definitely the best in big island even though i didn’t get to the top. thick outwear was required.

Definitely worth a visit. If you truly have dirt road cred in the mountains, this road is super easy. If you do not know how to drive on steep hills with gravel, stay off the road. I drove up in a 2wd minivan no problem.

Wonderful place to stargaze at night. Can be a bit chilly so bring the appropriate clothes. If you dont have a 4x4 vehicle, do not go past the visitor center. Dont worry you can see plenty of stars at 9600 elevation. If you do have a 4x4 make sure you stop at the visitor center to acclimate for a little while. You dont want to get to the top and get sick from the altitude.

Watching the stars, very excited place, very cute suvenir store, we all bought extra jackets for ourselves. It was a cold night, stay cozy with warm chocolate drink and noodle cups. Very beautiful and the wonderful stuff was explaining to us, including lots of other visitors about all kind of stars on tge beautiful dark sky at night. Please drive very careful there, rough drive but worth the trip!

We made the drive up after a very long day driving the island. I wish the drive was in the daytime but we were treated to a spectacular view of the stars once we arrived. The laser show was just starting. My kids were disinterested after a few minutes but Im still glad we went.

Nice place for stargazing we were not lucky and weather was very bad, stargazing program was canceled. They also have cultural program where you can learn about history of Island with act music and song.

Its a fun ride to the visitors center. It is 9000 and something feet up. Past the visitor center requires a 4wd and it cant be a rental. Most rental companies wont let you do it.

Informative. Interesting. Helpful. Everything you want to know about what is done on the top of Mauna Kea can be gleaned here.

We learned a lot from our ride to the center. Which means you need to check things out before hitting the road. We enjoyed the adventure, but the center was under construction. We learned this when the park ranger stopped and talked to us. We also found out that it was not recommended for my grandkids to go past the 9000 feet mark. So we took some pictures and turned back. But it was beautiful up there. Next time we wont take the grandkids (5 and 11 years of age). And you need 4 wheel drive to go past the center. Check first if its a rental car.

This is the visitor Center on the way up to the Volcano and Planetarium. Good information and gift shop. Rest rooms available

An incredible place and a must see if your are into star gazing. The altitude and the lack of light pollution makes this a once in a lifetime experience.The staff at the visitor center walk you through a laser guide tour of the stars on all nights (weather permitting) and if you are lucky to have clear skies, its a great photo opportunity. On a Tuesday,v Wednesday, Friday or Saturday you will also get to see telescope viewing. Kudos to the staff and volunteers who have immense dedication and do a phenomenal job.Something I learnt today - please do not take kids younger than 13 years to the summit. The visitor center is still a safe place for them from where you can both star gaze as well as hike for sunrise / Sunset.

Under construction at this time it seems. Nowhere to sit. Interesting items on gift shop.

Dont ignore your guidebooks admonition to dress warmly. The difference in temperature from ground level is surprising. Youll love having your knit cap and down jacket! The night sky is startling up here. Even with just the naked eye you will marvel at how much we are missing when we view the sky from down below! Plus, everything about the center (at night, anyway) creates something of a hushed, awe-filled sense - the eerie red lights, the darkened giftshop, the out-of-place hot chocolate machine outside. Theres a wonderful other-worldly sense of being on a movie set!Staff members are gracious, very friendly, and quite knowledgeable. There are no exhibits nor any sort of introductory film. Id have liked to know a bit more about the center itself - its mission, specializations, finding, etc. There is only an odd and quaint video screen with some very old-style computer-BASIC script at the front desk which provides a little background. But it doesnt work very well so you end up just asking the staff what you need to know. The gift shop, as well, is quaint. An odd collection of merchandise: technology games, noodle soup, knit caps, parkas, and post cards. Also, of course, an array of astronomy-themed books, games, and toys. The eerie red lighting after dark is perfect for minimizing light pollution, but there are some tripping obstacles that can be problematic. (One young woman tripped over a curb and fell during my visit.)There are announced star talks periodically. I thought wed missed the last one of the day but was delighted when the PA System announced a group was gathering for another. The staffer who have the talk was great. She used a laser pointer to point out a dozen or more constellations, talked about the night sky in general, and the current night sky, specifically. She even worked in some Polynesian folklore and Hawaiian language. Well worth the drive if the night is clear.

Cool place to go, but if you want to go further up you will need a 4x4 car.

Our 5 year old loved the video they were playing. Other than that, unless you head all the way to the top (we didnt) theres not a whole lot to see and do here.

Really cool place. Lots of places to take pictures and some very interesting history. Be sure to allow plenty of time, its easy to spend a long time here.

Amazing experience. Great and helpful staff. We could clearly see the rings of Saturn on their telescopes. My kids saw the sky like they have never seen before.People, if you go, for crying out loud stop with the cell phone flash lights and attempts to take pictures of stars with cell phone flashes. People ruining night vision with their cell phones is truly the only non-amazing part of this. And yes the staff is constantly reminding people.

A great and interesting drive. Well worth the visit.

Small building that you have to stop at before proceeding to the summit. Alot of great astronomy themed souveneers available as well as coffee and hot chocolate for evening stargazing

If you have the time and no physical/medical constrains, this place is a must visit!The night sky view will be something you will cherish forever!Tips: wear warm clothes, bring red/astronomy friendly flash light.

On the side of mona kea the midway stop for the trip up the mountain. The people were very nice and informative. Knowledgable staff that cared.

Wow, amazing views. Take the time for a visit. Its really with it.

Everything is good. Staffs are friendly. Toilet is super clean.The only thing I wanna complain is they didnt have clear and bright road guidance during the dark night and they ask you not to use flash light because it will interfere with the telescopes.So, I fall down from the stairs in front of the service center and break my knees and ankle.I will call them tomorrow and ask to improve the safety. I dont want this happen to you and your families!

Really cool place but a few challenges. The staff was great. Drive was hard on vehicle so be prepared. Was cold and windy. Biggest problem was it was too crowded. Too many people, long lines, and not much room. Needs twice as much parking, bigger patio, and many more telescopes. We didnt even get to look through one of the 5 or so scopes because the lines were so long and the kids could not take the cold.

The road and the visitor center are closed. Make sure to check the official website before heading here.

Not open while we were there so hard to say

Staff was very friendly and informative. Parking is currently limited due to construction.

A serious drive but well worth it. Watch yourself at altitude, the air is a bit thin up there.

It was full moon tonight so we couldnt see much stars. Moon telescope wass not that great quality. Saturn one has huge queue, we waited 2hours and left without getting our turn. Even then It was not the worst part of the trip, worst was below-We went there with 2small kids. it was very cold outside so we went out one by one. And one of the staff shouted on my 5 year old daughter because she was touching the wall which has stars on it. It turns out that wall is a very expensive painting and noone is supposed to be near it. Later we observed everyone was being told to not sit down on the floor and not touch this or that, blah blah... no sign anywhere, my daughter cried so much!Why put stuff like that in open in a very cowded area, cover it with glass, put a sign for it.

Life at 9200 ft.

Closing at 5:00 is too bad. But parking and walking up the hill to observe the Sunset and them the stars was amazing!

Sucks the visitor center was closer due to the earthquakes. Usually peeps from NASA are there to point out stars but not this time.

Im sure it will be nice when the construction work is done

One of the best places on the planet to take photos of the night sky. Bring warm clothing, a great camera, a tripod and a wide angle lense! Oh and extra batteries!

Such great views of the milky way after dark.

Star gazing is phenomenal, sunsets take your breath away

It was closed for renovations. Need to be there early for the Milky way otherwise there wont be any spot left.

Top of the world. Best spot on the planet for astronomy and you can drive right to it. Awesome.

Expensive souvenirs, people are knowledgeable and will answer your questions. I asked a woman about going up at night and she was quite rude about not going up. I understood her reasonings and listened carefully, she did not have to be rude about it. Very crowded during peak times.

Friendly staff. Amazing sky viewing. A great experience.

Unbelievably great sunset view at visitor center without going to the summit. However, it was very cold and they only show the summit weather, not visitor center weather when you go to their site. Many people came unprepared. They had a nice presentation on Hawaiian gods, but nothing discussing or showing amazing astronomy pictures. More of a gift shop than visitor center, but it is free. Come prepared for cold.

Very interesting and informative!

Closes at 330 including restrooms do keep this in mind if you are heading up to watch the sunset over Mauna Kea.

Go to the stargazing night time show, you wont regret it! Very knowledgeable staff.

Less stars than i expected, but CAN see lots of brightenings.

I only went to the store part and they had cute nerdy souvenir, snacks and Japanese food. I wish I stayed longer to watch the other side of the building where they had more informative things.

Kind and helpful people at VIS .

Great place for stargazing.

One of the highest Mountain on earth , if u measure from the ocean floor

Good info there

As of June 19, 2019 it is closed for renovations.

Great!

Beautiful place

The site is really not suitable for families, to wait. If you have to stay in the center to wait (since its not recommended for young children to go upstairs) while someone is going to visit the summit, there is no chair inside to wait , hardly any food to buy. The guide inside did not even want to sit on the floor.

Great facility

Not sure how to rate, they close at 3pm

Beautiful

Yes to this place