Haleakala National Park

Haleakala is one enormous volcano that makes up most of the eastern half of Maui, rising 10,023 feet from the sea. Its summit is crowned by a vast basin often called a crater, though it was really carved by erosion after the volcano went quiet, then dotted with newer cinder cones from later eruptions. Standing on the rim, you look down across miles of red, gray, and gold cinder, a rippling landscape so stark and strange that astronauts once trained here for the moon. The high slopes sit above the clouds much of the day, which is why the summit is world-famous for its sunrise: a reservation is required to drive up before dawn to see it, and the crowd that gathers in the cold, thin air always falls silent as the light arrives.

The summit is also a refuge for life found nowhere else. The Haleakala silversword, a spiky silver rosette that can live for decades and then send up a single towering flower stalk before it dies, grows only on this mountain and a few nearby high slopes. The nene, the Hawaiian goose and the state bird, was brought back from the edge of extinction and now waddles across the crater floor and the roadsides. Both are fragile and easily harmed, so the park asks visitors to keep their distance, stay on trails, and never feed or crowd them.

Far from the summit, on the wet windward coast near Hana, lies the park's other half, the Kipahulu District. Here freshwater streams tumble down from the rainforest through a chain of pools called Oheo Gulch, and the Pipiwai Trail climbs past a giant banyan and through a grove of towering bamboo to the base of Waimoku Falls, a slender ribbon of water dropping some 400 feet down a mossy cliff. The two districts are so different in feeling that many visitors treat them as separate trips, which in a way they are.

• Summit District Entrance, off the Haleakala Highway (HI-378) near Kula, is open year-round and is the way up to the summit, the visitor centers, and the sunrise overlooks. The road climbs from sea level to over 10,000 feet in a short distance, with many switchbacks, so allow plenty of time and drive slowly.
• Kipahulu District Entrance, off the Hana Highway (HI-31) near Hana on the far southeast coast, is open year-round and is where you find the Pipiwai Trail, Waimoku Falls, and the pools of Oheo Gulch. Note that there is no park road connecting Kipahulu to the summit; they are reached by two completely separate drives.
• Both districts are reached from Kahului, Maui's main town and airport, but by very different routes. The summit is about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive up through Upcountry Maui. Kipahulu is a long, winding half-day drive out the famous Road to Hana and beyond, so plan a full day for it and start early.

• Summit District holds the high volcanic heart of the park: the rim overlooks, the sunrise viewpoints, the visitor centers, the silversword slopes, and the trails that drop down onto the crater floor. It is cold, high, and dry, a stark moonscape above the clouds. This is the district most day visitors come for.
• Kipahulu District, on the wet Hana coast, is the park's tropical opposite: the Pipiwai Trail through bamboo forest to Waimoku Falls, the freshwater pools of Oheo Gulch, and a green, humid rainforest setting. It shares the same mountain but feels like a different world, and it has no road link to the summit.

• Watch the summit sunrise from the Haleakala Visitor Center or Pu'u'ula'ula (Red Hill), the highest point on Maui. A reservation is required to drive up for sunrise, it is freezing cold before dawn even in summer, and the sea of clouds catching the first light is unforgettable. Sunset from the summit is beautiful too and needs no sunrise reservation.
• Hike the Sliding Sands (Keonehe'ehe'e) Trail, which descends from the summit rim onto the crater floor through fields of red and black cinder and past clusters of silverswords. Even a short way down and back gives a feel for walking inside the volcano; remember that climbing back up at altitude is hard work.
• Walk the Pipiwai Trail in the Kipahulu District, a roughly 4-mile round trip that passes a huge banyan tree, crosses under towering waterfalls, threads through a dense bamboo forest, and ends at 400-foot Waimoku Falls.
• Visit the pools of Oheo Gulch in Kipahulu, a scenic chain of stream-fed pools stepping down toward the sea. Whether swimming is allowed changes with conditions and flash-flood risk, so always check current park guidance before going near the water.
• Look for silverswords and nene near the summit. The silver rosettes glow along the high trails, and the native geese are often seen along roadsides and on the crater floor. Keep well back from both and never feed the birds.

Long before it was a park, Haleakala was, and remains, a deeply sacred place to Native Hawaiians. Its name, House of the Sun, comes from the beloved story of the demigod Maui, who is said to have climbed to the summit and lassoed the sun as it raced across the sky, slowing it so that his mother would have longer days to dry her kapa cloth. Hawaiians came to the high crater to leave offerings, to bury the piko (umbilical cords) of newborns, and to train and worship. The summit is still used for ceremony today, and the park asks all visitors to treat the mountain, its cairns, and its shrines with respect.

After Western contact, the mountain drew scientists, ranchers, and travelers. By the early 1900s people were riding horses up to camp on the rim and watch the sunrise, and the idea of protecting the summit took hold. In 1916, the same year the National Park Service itself was created, the summit of Haleakala was set aside as part of Hawaii National Park, which it shared with the volcanoes of the Big Island.

In 1961 the two were split into separate parks, and Haleakala National Park became its own protected place. Over the years the park grew to take in the Kipahulu Valley and the coastal pools near Hana, adding the tropical rainforest half of the park to the high volcanic summit. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps built trails, cabins, and the road improvements that still carry visitors up the mountain, and their stone-and-timber work can be seen along the summit trails today.

The park has also become one of the great conservation stories of the islands. The nene, Hawaii's state bird, had dwindled to only a few dozen in the wild by the middle of the last century; careful captive breeding and release, much of it here, brought the goose back from the brink. The silversword, once dug up by souvenir hunters and trampled nearly out of existence, is now fenced, protected, and slowly recovering on its native slopes.

• Haleakala is not extinct, only sleeping. It is a dormant volcano that has erupted in the last several hundred years, and scientists expect it will erupt again someday.
• The summit is so clear, dry, and high that it hosts major observatories, including one of the largest telescopes in the world, perched on the mountaintop above most of the atmosphere.
• NASA astronauts trained on the crater floor in the 1960s because its barren, cindery landscape resembled the surface of the moon.
• The Haleakala silversword can live for up to 90 years, growing slowly as a silver rosette, then blooming just once with a stalk of hundreds of flowers before it dies.
• The nene, or Hawaiian goose, has less webbing on its feet than most geese, an adaptation for walking across rough lava rather than swimming.
• The two districts of the park are so far apart by road that most people never see both on the same trip; the summit and the Kipahulu coast are reached by entirely separate, hours-long drives.
• At 10,023 feet, the summit can be near freezing with high winds even when the beaches below are warm and sunny, one of the biggest surprises for first-time visitors.
• The Kipahulu rainforest above the visitor area is one of the wettest and most protected native forests in Hawaii, a research reserve closed to the public to guard rare native birds and plants.

• An entrance fee applies (per vehicle, good for three days and valid at both districts); interagency annual passes are accepted. Check the National Park Service website for current rates.
• A reservation is required to drive up to the summit for sunrise. Sunrise reservations are separate from the entrance fee and can go quickly, so book ahead through recreation.gov; no reservation is needed to visit during the day or for sunset.
• Dress for cold at the summit no matter the season. Temperatures near the top can drop to freezing with strong wind, so bring a warm jacket, long pants, and a hat even if you are coming from the beach.
• Take the altitude seriously. The summit road climbs to over 10,000 feet quickly, so move slowly, drink water, and skip the summit if you have heart or breathing concerns or recently went scuba diving.
• The two districts are not connected by any park road. Plan the Summit District and the Kipahulu (Hana) District as separate outings, and give Kipahulu a full day because of the long, winding drive.
• Fuel and services are limited. Fill up in Kahului or Kula before heading to the summit, and before the long Road to Hana drive to Kipahulu, as there are few or no services along the way.

Yes. A reservation is required to drive up to the summit for sunrise, roughly the hours before and just after dawn. It is separate from the park entrance fee and is booked through recreation.gov, and the slots go fast, so plan ahead. You do not need a reservation to visit the summit during the day or to watch the sunset.

Much colder than the beach. The summit sits above 10,000 feet, where temperatures can drop near freezing and the wind can be strong, especially before dawn. Even in summer, sunrise viewers are often standing in near-freezing air, so bring a warm jacket, long pants, a hat, and gloves. Many first-time visitors are caught off guard by how cold it gets up top.

No. Although both are part of the same park on the same mountain, there is no park road linking them. The Summit District is reached by driving up the Haleakala Highway from Kahului, while the Kipahulu District is reached by the long, winding Road to Hana on the far southeast coast. They are two separate drives hours apart, so plan them as separate outings.

Yes. Haleakala charges a per-vehicle entrance fee that is good for three days and valid at both the summit and Kipahulu districts, and interagency annual passes are accepted. The sunrise reservation is a separate charge. Check the National Park Service website for the current rates before you go.

The summit road climbs from sea level to over 10,000 feet in a short distance, which is high enough that some people feel lightheaded, short of breath, or tired. Take it easy, drink water, and give yourself time to adjust. People with heart or lung conditions should be cautious, and you should not go to the summit soon after scuba diving. If you feel unwell, head back down to lower elevation.

The silversword is a rare silver plant that grows only on this mountain and a few nearby high slopes, and the nene is the Hawaiian goose and state bird, brought back from near extinction. Both are fragile. Stay on trails so you do not trample young silverswords or their shallow roots, keep well back from the geese, and never feed them, as human food and getting used to people both put them in danger.

The park is open year-round and can be visited any season. Summer tends to be drier and clearer, but the summit can be cold and windy any time of year, and the Kipahulu coast can be wet and prone to flash floods after rain. Mornings are often clearest at the summit before clouds build, so an early start is smart in any season.

For the summit alone, plan a half day, more if you include a sunrise trip or a hike down onto the crater floor and back. The Kipahulu District deserves a full day of its own because of the long Road to Hana drive to reach it plus the Pipiwai Trail. Seeing both districts well is really a two-day plan rather than a single visit.

Pets are very limited here. They are generally allowed only in parking areas and along paved roads on a leash, and they are not allowed on trails, in the backcountry, or in the wilderness of the crater, in part to protect the ground-nesting nene. Never leave a pet in a hot car, and check the park website for the current pet rules before you come.

There is camping in both districts, along with a few rustic wilderness cabins in the summit crater that are reserved well in advance, but there are no hotels or lodges inside the park. Most visitors stay in Upcountry towns like Kula and Makawao for the summit, or near Hana for Kipahulu, and drive in for the day. Check the park website for current camping and cabin details.