- Where
- East Maui, Hawaii, United States
- Coordinates
- 20.71° N
156.25° W (Puʻu ʻUlaʻula) - Summit
- Puʻu ʻUlaʻula, 10,023 ft (3,055 m)
- National park
- Part of Hawaii National Park 1916;
its own park since 1961 - Sunrise
- Reservation required for arrivals 3 to 7 a.m.
- Getting there
- Kahului Airport, then about 2.5 hours
by road to the summit (Park Service) - Best visited
- All year; the summit is about 30°F
cooler than the coast - Advisory
- Domestic: no State Department
advisory applies
We drove up through the dark in a long line of red tail lights and came out above the clouds into the coldest wind I have met on any island. Everybody stood in blankets facing one way. When the sun came out of the cloud nobody cheered; there was a long sort of sigh. Below us lay a valley of rust-red hills with nothing green in it at all.
The short answer
Haleakalā National Park covers the summit of the volcano Haleakalā on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the second-largest island in the archipelago, and a separate coastal district at Kīpahulu, reached by a different road, Wikipedia records. The park covers 33,265 acres, of which 24,719 are wilderness, and counted 1,087,616 visitors in 2022. It began as part of Hawaii National Park in 1916 and was made a separate national park in 1961; the article also gives 1976 elsewhere for its designation, without reconciling the two. The highest point, Puʻu ʻUlaʻula or Red Hill, stands at 10,023 feet (3,055 metres). The park was named an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980, and the article says more endangered species live in it than in any other national park in the United States.
Why it's worth knowing
The house of the sun. The mountain’s name is rendered “house of the sun”, Wikipedia records, and in Hawaiian folklore the summit depression was the home of the grandmother of the demigod Māui, who helped him capture the sun and slow its path across the sky so that the day would be longer. The Park Service says Native Hawaiians have lived on and cared for the land for more than a thousand years, and that important cultural places and sites lie within both the summit and Kīpahulu areas, spoken of in many Hawaiian songs, chants and legends.
A crater that is not a crater. The great depression at the summit is some 11.25 miles across, 3.2 miles wide and nearly 2,600 feet deep, by Wikipedia’s figures, and dotted with cinder cones; but the article says it is not volcanic in origin. It formed when the heads of two large valleys, eroding back into the mountain, met at the summit, leaving the Koʻolau and Kaupō gaps. Nor is the volcano as long quiet as once thought: an eruption was dated to around 1790 from comparing the maps of La Pérouse and Vancouver, but a 1999 US Geological Survey report, using radiocarbon dating, put the last eruption between 1480 and 1600.
Telescopes and a long road. The summit is also a major astronomy site: the “Science City” complex there is run by the US Department of Defense, the University of Hawaiʻi, the Smithsonian Institution and others, and the Pan-STARRS telescope was added in 2006, Wikipedia records. The Haleakalā Highway up the mountain, mostly switchbacks, was completed in 1935. Commercial bicycle tours once ran the whole descent from the summit, until the Park Service suspended commercial bicycle activity in 2007.
The field notes
The plant that waits
The Haleakalā silversword, ʻāhinahina, grows on Haleakalā above about 6,900 feet, on the cinder slopes of the summit depression, Wikipedia and the Park Service record. Its silvery hairs and low rosette of fleshy leaves help it survive heat and drought. It flowers once: the Park Service says silverswords live between 3 and 90 years or more, then send up a flowering stalk, which Wikipedia gives as up to 6.6 feet tall with up to 600 heads, scatter their seed and die. Cattle and goats, together with vandalism in the 1920s, when visitors uprooted plants, rolled them over the lava or burned them, nearly drove it to extinction, Wikipedia records; it was listed as threatened under US law on 15 May 1992, and hoofed animals are now fenced out of the summit area. Its roots are shallow and can be crushed by walking on the cinders around it, so the park asks visitors to keep to marked trails.
Weather at the top
The Park Service says the summit runs about 30°F (17°C) cooler than the coast, from below freezing to highs of 50 to 65°F, and can feel colder still in wind and cloud. Storms have closed the park several times in 2026: both districts closed from 15 March for high winds, flooding and debris on the roads (Park Service release); the Summit District and Crater Road were still closed for storm recovery on 24 August, Maui Now reported (indexed); and the park reopened on 27 September after Hurricane Nolo passed to the south-southwest, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (indexed). The Pools of ʻOheʻo in the Kīpahulu district are not open for swimming, the park’s conditions page says; they can be seen from the Kūloa Point Trail.
The summit valley at dawn, December 2016.
Photograph: ImagePerson · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
A Haleakalā silversword (ʻāhinahina) on the summit cinders, February 2013.
Photograph: Paul Harrison · CC BY-SA 4.0
Red and grey cinder slopes with the Sliding Sands trail threading down, January 2021.
Photograph: Katie Rodriguez via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
A silversword under the stars at the summit, January 2026.
Photograph: Sam Goodgame via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
- Reserve the sunrise first and everything else after, and bring the paper with your name on it. The gate is very fond of paper.
- Pack every warm thing you brought for the beach, then borrow a blanket. (The list went up in a shirt pocket and came down with its teeth chattering, which I had not known it could do.)
- Admire the silver plants from the trail, and keep your boots on it, every step.
- This mountain holds stories and sacred places that belong to other people. At the top, speak softly, and put your feet where the signs ask.
- Stay on after the crowd drives down, and walk a little way into the red valley before the day warms up.
A silversword. The Haleakalā silversword, ʻāhinahina, grows on the cinder slopes of Haleakalā’s summit and nowhere else, a low rosette of silver-haired leaves that the Park Service says may live from 3 to 90 years or more before it sends up a single tall stalk of flowers, sets seed and dies. Visitors once took them as souvenirs; today they are seen from the trail and left exactly where they grow.
Tally, in the marginI walked past several before I believed they were growing and not carved, and after that I went on very carefully, the way one does in a room where everybody else is asleep.
Getting there
How to get there. By air to Kahului Airport, Maui’s main commercial airport, then by road: the Park Service gives about 2.5 hours from Kahului to the summit by routes 37, 377 and 378, and about 4 hours to Kīpahulu by routes 36, 360 and 31. There are no gas stations in the park; the last on the way to the summit is in Pukalani. There are no charging points for electric vehicles, and the Park Service warns that even fully charged electric vehicles have been unable to reach the summit.
When to go. The park is open all year. Sunrise visitors arrive in the dark, when the summit, which runs about 30°F cooler than the coast, can be below freezing. Storms closed the park more than once in 2026; the park’s conditions page lists closures.
What to arrange ahead. Sunrise needs a reservation: as of 20 October 2026, the Park Service’s sunrise FAQ (updated 23 April 2024) says every non-commercial visitor arriving between 3 and 7 a.m. needs one, at $1.00 a vehicle on Recreation.gov, in addition to the entrance fee; reservations open 60 days ahead at 7 a.m. Hawaii time, with a portion released two days ahead. The fees page (updated 18 December 2025) gives $30 a private vehicle, valid for three days. The reservation holder shows a paper copy and photo ID at the entrance; visitors without a sunrise reservation are not admitted in those hours. The campgrounds and the wilderness cabins are booked on Recreation.gov as well.
Safety. The State Department’s travel advisories cover other countries, so none applies here; the hazards are the mountain’s own. The summit is at 10,023 feet and can be below freezing before dawn, and the road up is mostly switchbacks. The park asks visitors to keep to marked trails, for the silverswords’ shallow roots. The CDC publishes guidance on travel to high elevations; talk to your doctor before the trip if altitude is a concern. Park operations depend on federal funding.
Mark this place
Common questions
Do you need a reservation for sunrise at Haleakalā?
Yes. Haleakalā National Park on Maui requires a reservation for every non-commercial vehicle arriving for sunrise between 3 and 7 a.m., at $1.00 a vehicle on Recreation.gov, on top of the entrance fee, the Park Service says. Reservations open 60 days ahead, with some released two days ahead.
How high is Haleakalā?
The highest point of Haleakalā, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, is Puʻu ʻUlaʻula, or Red Hill, at 10,023 feet (3,055 metres), by the Park Service’s and Wikipedia’s figures.
What does Haleakalā mean?
Haleakalā, the volcano of east Maui, is rendered “house of the sun”, Wikipedia records. In Hawaiian folklore the demigod Māui, helped by his grandmother who lived in the summit depression, caught the sun there and slowed it to lengthen the day.
Is the Haleakalā crater a real volcanic crater?
No. The summit depression of Haleakalā on Maui, about 11.25 miles across and nearly 2,600 feet deep, is not volcanic in origin, Wikipedia records: it formed when the heads of two eroding valleys met at the summit.
When did Haleakalā last erupt?
Haleakalā, on Maui, was once thought to have erupted around 1790, from comparisons of early explorers’ maps; a 1999 US Geological Survey report using radiocarbon dating put its last eruption between 1480 and 1600, Wikipedia records.
What is the Haleakalā silversword?
The Haleakalā silversword, ʻāhinahina, is a silver-leaved plant that grows on the cinder slopes of Haleakalā on Maui and nowhere else on Earth. It flowers once, then dies; it has been listed as threatened under US law since 1992.
How cold is the summit of Haleakalā?
The summit of Haleakalā on Maui runs about 30°F (17°C) cooler than the coast, the Park Service says, ranging from below freezing to highs of 50 to 65°F, and wind and cloud make it feel colder.
How long is the drive to the summit of Haleakalā?
The Park Service gives about 2.5 hours from Kahului to the summit of Haleakalā on Maui, by routes 37, 377 and 378. There is no gas in the park, and it warns that fully charged electric vehicles have failed to reach the summit.