Haleakala National Park

May 21st, 2004

About Haleakala

Mount (Mt.) Haleakala is a mountain on Maui, but most people refer to it only as Haleakala. It is a dormant volcano whose name means "House of the Sun." It is pronounced hah lay ah kah lah. The mountain is the highest point on Maui, over 10,000 feet high, providing spectacular views. The summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island are also both higher than 10,000 feet, but neither provides viewing access as easy as Haleakala does due mostly to road availability and conditions.

Haleakala's summit is within the Haleakala National Park.

Things to do in Haleakala National Park

Watch the sun rise
This is one of the more popular activities. It entails getting up early - probably before 3 am - driving to the very top of the volcano, and freezing your buns off while hopefully getting a spectacular sunrise (completely clear weather may mean only a good sunrise).

Bike down the mountain
Another extremely popular activity, oftentimes coupled with watching the sun rise. Usually a tour company will bus you up to the top and then provide the bikes and maybe even a guide to your practically-all-downhill-with-fantastic-views-ride.

Camp
Camping at Haleakala is allowed by permit, contact the Haleakala National Park

Hike
There are several hiking trails in Haleakala National Park. The visitor's center within the park is probably the best provider of information regarding these trails. Any good Maui guidebook should also touch on the easiest/longest/most picturesque etc. trails (I recommend Maui Revealed or Maui Trailblazer).

Haleakala Directions and Distances

The drive up Haleakala is long - about 2 hours from Kihei. If you are heading up for the coveted sunrise you will also have to deal with parking issues, so you'll want to leave even earlier.

Take Highway 37 to Highway 377, and then to Highway 378 - just keep heading up, the way is fairly intuitive if you know which highway numbers you want.

Haleakala Pictures

The view of Maui from the drive up Haleakala.



The view above the clouds from about the 17 mile marker heading up to Haleakala summit.



The Leleiwi Lookout Trail offering a short walk (less than a half mile) to a spectacular view of the crater. Parking area is around the 17 mile marker of Haleakala Highway. The following pictures are all views from the Leleiwi Lookout of Haleakala Crater.









The hiking trail within the Haleakala crater.

Haleakala Links

Haleakala Crater Cam

Volcanic Info on Haleakala

Spectacular Haleakala Photos

Haleakala Hiking - personal journal