You can take saddle road across to Hilo then the H11 to Volcano, or just drive H11 south from Kona. My opinion taking the H11 south from Kona is the more spectacular drive. Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park is a must stop along with the detour to South point, just to say you've been, and Punalu'u Beach ( black sand and Honu). Just my thoughts.

i think the other answers covered it well. one other note, if you do take the saddle road, mind your speed!!! first time we drove it we counted no less than 15 different cop cars near the visitors center either with speeders pulled over or waiting with their radars out. major speed trap zone. was comical seeing about a dozen pulled over in a 1 mile stretch in both directions with other cops lined up to tag the next speeder. they aren't messing around up there. DO NOT SPEED!

The road is very new and very wide with easy curves over the mountain. It can be foggy near the high point where the access road goes off up to the observatory, but overall it is no different than driving anywhere else in the dark away from street lights. Also, Hawaii is installing really effective centerline reflectors on roads that are just two lanes and narrower.

I agree with the others here. Two different experiences entirely. We only drove Saddle Road from Waimea to the Maunakea Visitors Center. We did not drive any farther east than that. We did drive all the other roads you asked about. For time considerations, Saddle Road is the quickest route. Talking with people who live in Hilo but work in Kona, this is the route they use for the quickest distance between the two. The northern route, which from what I figure you mean, is highway 19. Much more varied terrain, as mentioned by others, and it will take longer. More to see too. My wife and I road tripped the Big Island. If you have the time do both. We stayed one night in Kona after landing, two nights in Hilo, two nights in Hawi, and two more nights in Kona. It gave us a nice overall view of the whole island, which is quite diverse. If you have the time it's a nice way to see everything in an unrushed manner. I would suggest going to Google Earth and typing in "attractions near..." with the name of the town or city that you want to know about. That way you won't have regrets later because you missed something. One thing to keep in mind is that some rental car companies do not allow their cars on Saddle Road. Ask before you rent. Saddle Road used to be gravel, from what I understand, but is fully paved now. In fact the western end is a multi-laned highway.

No saddle road is inland between the 2 big volcanos.

Yes, it saves about an hour. It is safe and on the day we drove, absolutely beautiful and clear. The landscape changes so much from east to west!

Yes, you'll be fine after dark. We have driven it in the dark several times.

The road is completely finished. Watch your speed.

Bonjour, J'ai cherché une piste mais je ne l'ai pas trouvé. N'ayant pas de GPS fiable j'ai préféré ne rien tenter. Vous ne serez pas déçu la route qui fait le tour par Hilo est belle et avec peu de traffic. Vous ferez du 4x4 en montant au Mona Kea après le poste du parc national. Il n'y a personne tout en haut. Belles vacances,