Haleakalā National Park

Haleakalā National Park protects 30,183 acres on Maui, from a summit at 10,023 feet (3,055 m) to sub-tropical rain forest at Kīpahulu, past Hāna. It was created in 1916 as part of Hawaiʻi National Park and became a separate national park in 1961. In 2025 it had 853,711 recreation visits, 16.6% more than in 2024.

Haleakalā means "house of the sun", and the Park Service describes the mountain as sacred to Native Hawaiians. We read the figures below on 28 October 2026, Hawaii time, on the park's own pages and alerts, Recreation.gov, the Hawaii Department of Transportation's roadwork list and NOAA's normals.

How do you get a Haleakalā sunrise reservation?

A Haleakalā sunrise reservation costs $1 per vehicle on Recreation.gov, and every car entering the park between 3 and 7 a.m. needs one. The $30 entrance fee comes on top. A car without a reservation waits at the gate until 7 a.m.

Recreation.gov releases tickets 60 days ahead and again 2 days ahead, both at 7 a.m. Hawaii time. The park says they often sell out within fifteen minutes. Each ticket covers one vehicle, not one person, and is valid only for the day booked.

One person can buy one sunrise reservation in any three days. The park gives no refund or exchange for bad weather, and fee-free days do not waive it. Calling or visiting the park does not produce a reservation: Recreation.gov sells them online, and its help line is 1-877-444-6777.

At the gate the person named on the booking shows ID, the confirmation and a park pass or a way to buy one. The park's FAQ asks for a paper copy on the dashboard, while Recreation.gov says a confirmation on a phone is enough. Carry a printout to be safe. A night at Hosmer Grove Campground includes the next morning's sunrise reservation.

Which Haleakalā overlook is quietest at sunrise?

Leleiwi and Kalahaku, the two lowest of Haleakalā's four sunrise viewing areas, are the ones the Park Service suggests for a more solitary sunrise. Only 150 vehicles are let in for the four areas together. A reservation does not guarantee a space at any one car park, and lots close when full.

The heights are the park's own. The drive from the entrance gate to the summit takes about 30 minutes, on a road with no streetlights or guard rails. Leleiwi looks over the crater towards the Kaupō and Koʻolau gaps.

Does the $30 Haleakalā pass cover Kīpahulu too?

The $30 Haleakalā car pass covers both the Summit and Kīpahulu districts for three days, for one private vehicle and everyone in it. A motorcycle pays $25 and a person on foot or bicycle $15. Visitors aged 15 and under enter free.

Haleakalā is not on the 2026 list of eleven parks with a $100 surcharge, so visitors from abroad pay what Americans pay. The park does not accept cash. Both entrance stations take credit and debit cards only, and a self-pay machine beside each takes cards when the station is closed. Two adults from abroad in a rental car pay $30, plus $1 for a sunrise slot.

The $55 Hawaiʻi Tri-Park annual pass, valid here, at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and at Puʻuhonua ʻO Hōnaunau, is sold to US citizens and residents only. The fee-free day on 11 November is also for US residents, and it does not cover the 3 to 7 a.m. sunrise hours. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors lists the parks that do charge the surcharge.

Why are Haleakalā's Summit and Kīpahulu districts two separate trips?

Haleakalā's Summit and Kīpahulu districts are not directly connected by road, and no public transport reaches either. The Summit District is reached from Kahului on Routes 37, 377 and 378, climbing from an entrance at about 7,000 feet to the 10,023-foot summit. Kīpahulu lies 10 to 12 miles past Hāna town, on Routes 36, 360 and 31.

The Summit and Kīpahulu districts are open 24 hours a day, and the park closes only in extreme, hazardous weather. Neither sells food or fuel. The last petrol on the summit side is in Pukalani, and on the Hāna side in Pāʻia. The Park Service adds that electric cars setting out fully charged have failed to reach the summit.

Water is available at all three visitor centres. Headquarters Visitor Center stands near the entrance, and the Haleakalā Visitor Center near the summit opens from sunrise to about noon. The Kīpahulu Visitor Center opens from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Emergency medical help is at least an hour away in both districts, and the crater has no mobile signal.

How cold is it on Haleakalā before dawn?

Haleakalā's summit is about 30°F (17°C) cooler than the coast, according to the Park Service. The hours around dawn and dusk are regularly wet, windy and below freezing. Year-round summit temperatures run from below freezing to highs of 50 to 65°F, and one day can span 80°F at Kīpahulu and 30°F at the summit.

Altitude is the other hazard. The Park Service calls altitude sickness a concern on the summit trails, with nausea, headache, dizziness and shortness of breath as the signs. It asks pregnant women and people with heart or breathing conditions to consult a doctor first. Expect harsh UV, wind, rain and cold all year.

The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 average highs, lows and rainfall. NOAA's park station stands near park headquarters and Hosmer Grove, about 3,000 feet below the summit. The summit has no NOAA normals, so the summit figures above are the Park Service's. The station averages 42 inches of rain a year, and its wettest months are December, January and March. Kīpahulu, by the park's count, gets 187 inches.

Visits peak in July, with 91,757 in 2025, and are lowest in October, with 58,085.

How far down does Haleakalā's Sliding Sands Trail go?

The Keoneheʻeheʻe (Sliding Sands) Trail starts in the Haleakalā Visitor Center car park and drops almost 2,500 feet in 3.9 miles to the crater floor. The Park Service's rule is to allow twice as long to climb out as to go down. Its soft cinder feels like walking on a beach, the park says.

The crater is in fact a valley carved by erosion, Recreation.gov notes, and the Park Service puts its rim more than 2,500 feet above the floor. The distances below are the park's own.

Every trail on the park's hiking page showed as open when we read it on 28 October 2026. Groups are limited to 12, and hikers must stay on marked trails. The Kaupō Trail beyond the crater is outside the park and not maintained by the Park Service. The park bans pets on all trails.

Can you sleep inside the Haleakalā crater?

Haleakalā has no hotel or lodge, but three wilderness cabins stand in the crater: Hōlua, Kapalaoa and Palikū. Each costs $75 a night and has 12 padded bunks, a wood stove and no electricity. The Civilian Conservation Corps built them in 1937.

Recreation.gov takes bookings for the cabins and wilderness tent sites up to six months ahead. The shortest hikes in are 3.7 miles to Hōlua, 5.5 to Kapalaoa and 9.3 to Palikū. Water there must be filtered or treated.

A visitor may spend at most three nights in any 30 days across all of the park's sites. Sleeping in a car outside a campground is banned. Stores and lodging outside the park are at least 30 minutes away.

On 28 October 2026 Hosmer Grove had no water after a waterline break, and the park had no estimate for the repair. The alert ran to 1 December and pointed campers to Headquarters Visitor Center, a mile up the road, where water is available around the clock.

What is open at Kīpahulu while the Pools of ʻOheʻo are closed?

The Pools of ʻOheʻo at Kīpahulu are closed to entry for safety, but they can be seen from the Kūloa Point Trail. The Kūloa Point walk is half a mile in all, with an 80-foot change. The Pīpīwai Trail, which starts to the left of the Kīpahulu Visitor Center, is open and needs no reservation.

The Pīpīwai Trail climbs 800 feet in 2 miles to Waimoku Falls, 4 miles round trip and moderately strenuous. Makahiku Overlook, above a waterfall nearly 200 feet tall, comes at half a mile. A bamboo forest, crossed on boardwalks and footbridges, follows at about a mile.

The path is unpaved, rocky and slippery after rain. Flash floods and rock falls can happen at any time, and the park says stream water can rise 4 feet in 10 minutes. Entering or wading in the streams is not recommended. Off-trail travel is illegal, and the valley above Waimoku Falls is closed to entry.

What did Haleakalā's alerts warn about on 28 October 2026?

Haleakalā National Park listed four alerts on 28 October 2026, Hawaii time, and none of them closed a road or trail. One was the Hosmer Grove water cut described above.

The sunset alert matters most to day visitors. There is no reservation system for sunset, and cars may be turned around at the summit entrance when the park reaches capacity. The alert advised arriving three hours before sunset and warned that a pass bought online does not guarantee entry.

The park's phones were not taking incoming calls from 21 October to 21 November 2026. The alert gave 808-490-9870 and an email address instead, and warned that service may be intermittent. A fourth alert asked drivers to watch for nēnē, the Hawaiian goose, and ʻuaʻu, the Hawaiian petrel, which were nesting in the park.

The Haleakalā Visitor Center near the summit reopened on 21 May 2026 after repairs, with temporary exhibits.

How long is the drive from Kahului to the Haleakalā summit?

Haleakalā's summit is about 36 miles from Kahului Airport by our own routing, and the park entrance about 25 miles. The last 11 miles, from the gate to the top, take about 30 minutes, the park says.

The park's own drive times from Kahului disagree. Its FAQ gives 45 minutes to an hour, Recreation.gov 1.5 hours counting heavy traffic, and its directions page 2.5 hours. Kahului Airport is Maui's main airport, with overseas and inter-island flights.

The park's times to Kīpahulu range from 2.5 to 3 hours in its FAQ to about 4 hours on its directions page. Our routing's free-flow time does not reflect the Hāna Highway's pace.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation listed single-lane closures on the Hāna Highway, Route 360, for the week of 24 to 30 October 2026, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The work at mile 9.8, by Waikamoi Stream, repairs erosion from the Kona Low storms earlier in 2026. HDOT advised local traffic only on the highway after Tropical Storm Lala on 16 August, and we found no later notice ending that advice.

Hawaii keeps standard time, UTC−10, all year with no daylight saving. The 7 a.m. ticket release is therefore noon in New York until 14 March 2027 and 1 p.m. after it. Our guide to Hawaii covers Haleakalā together with Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.