• A view of the cinder desert

    Haleakalā

    National Park Hawai'i

There are park alerts in effect.
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  • Water shortage at summit

    The visitor center nearest the summit is very low on water. Please use the toilets at Headquarters Visitor Center near the park entrance if possible.

  • Drive cautiously - Endangered birds land on roadway

    Nene (Hawaiian geese) and 'ua'u (Hawaiian petrels) are nesting in the park and may land on or frequent park roads and parking lots. Drivers are reminded to drive at the posted speed limits and exercise caution.

  • Haleakala Visitor Center Parking Lot Rehabilitation In Progress

    During construction, parking spaces at Haleakala Visitor Center (near the summit) will be reduced by at least 50%. Construction is scheduled for May 20 through June 6. Visitors and tour operators may experience delays. More »

Wilderness Area

 

An unexpected and dramatic landscape at the top of the world, the Wilderness Area encompasses 24,719 acres and countless microclimates. Elevation change from rim to the floor can be 3,000 feet (914m). You can day hike, spend the night in a tent at one of the two Wilderness Campgrounds, or reserve one of the three historic cabins along the trail. Your steps will take you from brown and red cinder cones, towering hundreds of feet tall in dry, cold desert air to cloudforests dripping with red and green native ferns. Nēnē and endemic honeycreepers can be seen in the lower, wetter parts of the Wilderness area during the day. Seabirds can be heard (in season) at night, and stars saturate the sky. Photographers will quickly run out of superlatives.

The Wilderness Area of Haleakalā can be accessed by two mountaintop trailheads: Halemauʻu Trailhead at 8000 feet (2438m), and Keoneheʻeheʻe (or Sliding Sands) near the summit at 9740 feet (2969m). Both trails merge eventually and lead down the southeast side of the volcano to the relatively barren and unpopulated coast in the Kaupō district.

Overnight camping requires a permit, cabins must be reserved, and it is always advisable to stop by a Visitor Center before a day hike to discuss your plans. Weather can be severe and is always changeable and unpredictable. Water is scarce, altitude can be a major factor, and certain seasonal restrictions may apply.

 
Two hikers look back at the volcanic landscape they have covered on their wilderness hike.
Two hikers enjoy the visual contrast of the approaching clouds as they look back at the landscape they have travled during their wilderness hike.
Matt Wordeman, NPS Volunteer.

Did You Know?

Did You Know?

You might find squid beaks at 10,023 feet (3055 m) above sea level. Haleakalā National Park is home to the ʻUaʻu - the Hawaiian Dark-Rumped Petrel - sea birds that eat squid and regurgitate the indigestible beak ouside their burrows in the summit area.