Haleakala Summit

Visiting the Haleakala summit is a must if you visit Maui. The view and experience is unforgettable and breathtaking!
Just remember to wear warm clothes and even bring a small blanket because the temperature dropped close to 40 degrees. (If you get cold easily, I would even suggest to bring gloves or a beanie) The strong piercing wind was the thing that killed me!
There is a shelter with glass windows that you can stay in that keeps you a bit less cold! If you’re taking pictures I recommend you take it outside though because your pictures will end up with a reflection/​glare.
There are also no bathrooms at the 10,000 feet point. Remember to go at the visitors center beforehand.
Be sure to arrive at least one and a half hour early if you want to get the full experience. Another thing to keep in mind is that the road to the top is windy. It’s really dark so it will most likely be hard to see.

Warm Weather Below, Freezing At The Summit!
This was a cool place to hike to… Hiking all the way up Haleakala seems to not be so common, but adds to the experience for me.
As you work your way up you go from how and sweaty, the. To getting cooler and drier, then eventually you are in 30 degree weather wondering how much longer you can go without freezing!
This is an important spot to see if you want to actually see the island…
Don’t miss it!

No No No! What a complete waste of time. You are better off watching a 4k video of the sunrise on youtube. You have no idea how awful the trip to the summit is. Let me attempt to enlighten you on how horrible it is. For starters, on the best of days it will take you 90 minutes to get to the top from the base of the mountain plus the 1 hour wait time to get into the park so that is 2.5 hours. The roads are so windy that you will get car sick. There are no bathrooms nor is there anywhere to stop to go to the bathroom until you hit the park entrance. So you need to be prepared to hold it for 2.5 hours plus the time it takes you to get to the mountain from your hotel. To make matters worse, it takes about 1 hour to get into the park because you have to wait in line to pay the entrance fee. I am shocked that all the idiots who post wonderful things about this place fail to mention how horrible the line is to get into the park in. To put it in perspective, you need to plan on being at the base of the mountain at least 3 hours before sunrise.
Also, they quadruple park you! Yes, they force you to park between cars and block yourself in. You can have 1 car in front of you and 2 cars behind you!!! That means you have to sit around and wait for the people in front of you or behind you leave so you can move your car! No kidding! Why are none of the other people posting about this place warning you of the horrible parking!!!
And I did not even mention how awful the temperature is up there.
Please message all of the people who posted nice things about this place why they failed to warn you about the wait time, parking, and the temperature.
Do yourself a favor, just watch a 4k clip on youtube.
This place is not worth the headache. You will be miserable if you go.

This was an amazing visit! We didn’t know what to expect, but it was well worth the visit and in my opinion, a must-​see!
We decided somewhat on a whim to visit and didn’t really have enough time to explore, but we still had a wonderful time even though we only had a few hours to explore.
First, we stopped at the lower visitors center to get a lay of the land and decide which trails to hike. Since we didn’t have a ton of time, we then drove to the top, walked around a little bit (being above the clouds was such a cool experience!). Then, we checked out the silverswords a bit and decided to stop in at the other visitors center to start our hike (sliding sands trail i believe is what it’s called).
This was like walking on the surface of the moon — and since it wasn’t crowded, it really felt like we were in outer space. The way into the crater is unbelievable but on the way in, it doesn’t feel so bad, and you can go fast. We had been warned that it would take double the time to get out than to hike in and while we believed them, I think we underestimated the altitude and the combination of the steepness and our time limits and we are pretty athletic. It only took us about 25% longer to get out, but we were definitely in a hurry to get to where we needed to go.
I don’t really know how to describe this, but it was such an amazing place, we felt we were totally alone even though we were on a park trail.
Definitely worth a visit — don’t miss this!

This will forever be my favorite place on Maui. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful, and not just because I’m obsessed with sunsets (thanks, dad!), but because this is everything. Last year I got to see the Haleakala sunrise, so this year we tried out the sunset. The colors are impossible to describe, but they are beyond beautiful. I would recommend doing a sunrise or sunset, you won’t regret it! Even though the drive up the volcano is long and windy, sometimes even scary since it feels like your car might fall off the road, it is worth it more than I can explain. I will admit that the sunrise is much more peaceful than the sunset, so if you’re into the peacefulness and meditating feeling I would recommend a sunrise. Either way, they are both unreal.

Came here for a visit with the family. We drove up from Lahaina (2 hrs) up to the summit, stopping at various points along the road to take in the beautiful views. Once we got up to the summit, we walked around the crater perimeter and hiked up the trailhead (0.25 mi) to look over the crater. A gorgeous view. We lucked out that the clouds parted a little and so we had great visibility. We also hiked down the sliding sands trail for a little bit to go down into the crater. Unfortunately the trail was closed so we couldn’t go too far. We then drove up to the actual summit parking lot to take in the views from there but by then the clouds had come back and we couldn’t see far anymore. With the winds, it was also quite chilly so be sure to bring a jacket as the weather changes quickly

Go here. I cannot stress this enough. Go here.
At the last minute, we decided we had enough time to squeeze in the summit before our flight home. As we drove up, we spent about 25 minutes going through rain clouds. We were convinced that we’d get to the top and still be encompassed by fog, but — alas — there was sun. Our little rental car broke through the rain and clouds to find a gorgeous, warm, sunny view of the island. It truly felt like we were on another planet. I highly, highly recommend this spot to anyone who gets a chance to drop by. It’s the best $ 15 you’ll spend on Maui.

There is really nothing to say but … Awwwww. At 10023ft above sea level there is no nicer view of the Sunset and Night sky.

Haleakala National Park is arguably the top tourist to do while vacationing here on Maui. While the sunrise and sunset is the most talked about, the trek to get to the summit is unreal and utterly awesome.
*There are two other Unilocal pages relating to Haleakala National Park I found. All of them have photos and reviews about their experiences on Haleakala summit. Search Haleakala Summit and Haleakala Visitors Center.
I have driven to the Haleakala summit a few times during my stays on Maui over the years from 2008 — 2015. The drive is long from anywhere on Maui. From Kahului and Kihei, it’s over an hour, longer from Wailea and Lahaina if you are staying in those areas. Once you get into Kula, the actual drive up Haleakala summit is similar to the Road to Hana: Uphill snaky one lane divided road that can take a good 45 minutes or so. There’s a good viewing spots along the way, but you’d most likely will see cattle grazing along the hillsides as you drive up. Nothing spectacular on the way up, but once you park the car, it’s pretty amazing when you are up there on the Haleakala summit. The overall experience is breath taking and I’d advise to do it just once on your vacation to Maui.
Many people visit Haleakala for the spectacular sunrise and sunset, although you’d need to be up on the summit beforehand, so you don’t miss it. There are many options to camp here and experience the summit that way or hike around the crater during the day to explore the rugged terrain. One of the many aspects of Haleakala that is most appealing to me, is that there is no admission fee at all. There is plenty of parking up along the summit, so best bet would be to get here as early as you can, so you can have more time exploring and admiring the views that Haleakala has to offer you and your family. The sunrise there can’t be beat and there are many photos you see online and on Unilocal,but they don’t do much justice when being there is much more therapeutic and awe inspiring to see it happen.
For the most part, being here on top of Haleakala summit was an amazing experience. Not just being there and admiring the view, but it’s just stunning to be above the clouds and 10,000 feet of elevation. The trails here are rocky, but walkable, hike-​able, and even runnable, if you aw so inclined, like me. Please allocate at least half of the day to truly experience Haleakala. The drive up and down can be time consuming, but so is Road to Hana too. Lol Bring water and food, since they don’t sell stuff at the summit. Wear covered shoes and definitely bring your camera to capture your experiences at the summit of Haleakala. It’s definitely a lifetime experience, if you are a visitor to Maui. For local kamaa’ina, it can be a nice road trip just because and it’s an alternative to hanging out at the beach. Enjoy!
Support local!
A+++
*Cross posted reviews under Haleakala Summit and Haleakala Visitors center

My Husband was excited to visit the Haleakala Summit during sunrise or sunset for months before we even left on our vacation to Maui. The summit is beautiful any other time as well, but exceptional at these times of the day. If you’re going to do it, do it right.
We originally planned to go at sunrise, but after reading all the reviews that say we had to go exceptionally early (we would have to leave our condo at before 3am!) we decided to go for sunset instead. We left plenty early to allow ourselves enough time to get up there and get a good spot.
We arrived around 3:45pm on a Saturday, and traffic going up to the summit was light, and there was plenty of parking still to be had. It costs $ 15 to get up to the summit and there are two parking lots once you get up there. There is a larger lot about a quarter mile down from the summit which has a visitor center and a path to hike down into the crater and there is a smaller lot at the very top which is the best spot to watch the sunset.
The sunset itself was amazing, very beautiful and you can get some great shots of it with your camera and the surrounding valley. From the summit you can see the entire island; it’s absolutely breathtaking! You are above the clouds, so you want to go when it’s as least cloudy as possible.
My favorite part was all the cool cacti plants up at the summit, but that’s just my thing. I also liked the crater itself, it had beautiful red colors and it’s an easy hike to get down inside of it. If I would have known, I would have come a few hours earlier in the day to be able to hike all the way down into it.
Make sure to bring plenty of water and tylenol for headaches. The elevation is extremely high, so altitude sickness is possible. When we were here in late October, temperatures at night were cold, but we were OK in sweatshirts and light jackets. Long sleeves during the day were fine as well.

This is in Haleakala National Park. If you have a park pass you’re good to go. Otherwise there is an entrance fee.
Understand that while this is Maui, the summit is over 10 000 feet up. During the day it’s pleasantly cool. As the sun goes down it gets bloody cold! We knew what to expect and brought our jackets. Some folks were up there looking like they were going to the beach. Those who decided to stay for sunset regretting their lack of attire. Sunrise would be even colder, but we didn’t do that.
The summit is pretty barren. Like a high desert. But it’s a great view all around. In one direction you see the crater spread out before you. This day when we looked in other directions we saw low clouds before us. Which made for a spectacular sunset. There is a visitor’s center below the summit, and there are great views from there also. The center itself closes pretty early.
There’s another visitor’s center close to the entrance, but I’ll review that separately.

An amazing experience! I would say this is definitely recommended for people who love nature. Sunrise, sunsets, hiking, and freezing your butt off at 30 degree temps in Maui. Jk seriously go with a blanket, jacket, gloves, and go early! It gets cold up there at 10k feet elevation. The drive is a bit scary but with a bunch of cars going up with you, you don’t feel too alone driving up the winding road to the summit. From wailea it takes 2 hours so leave at 3:30 am the latest if you want to catch the sunrise. I must say it is pretty spectacular. Reminds me of watching the sunrise on an airplane, but you are on ground. Go hiking around after the crowd leaves. It’s beautiful up there. Beware of the crazy drivers that forget to turn their blinding Brights off while driving. Next time I’d go hike around «Mars» (it reminds me of Mars), and watch the sunset instead. Just as spectacular

It’s very beautiful up here and kind of like being on another planet. $ 10 to get to the very top, 10,000 feet. I only wish the weather wasn’t so harsh when we got to the top because we couldn’t really stand it long enough to take many pictures. It was 49 degrees with, no joke, 40 mile an hour winds so we just tried to book it to the enclosed viewing areas. I agree with the other Unilocalers advising you to bring warm clothes.

This was my 2^nd time to Maui, and I had to make sure I saw the sunrise at Haleakala this time. We planned our trip in advance, so we stayed at the Kula Lodge over night to avoid having to make the whole trek in the morning. If you plan on taking great photos, you definitely need to make sure you get up there early to stake out a spot. My husband and I arrived at 6am, and there was already a good amount of people out.
Sunrise was about 6:55am, so we had to stand out in the cold for a while. Make sure you bundle up because it is VERY cold and windy up there! Once the sun starts peaking over the clouds, the views are breathtaking! It is definitely worth seeing at least once in your life.
After sunrise, make sure you take time to hike around the summit. The landscape is pretty barren, and I felt like I was on the moon! Hiking down was a piece of cake, but I had trouble hiking back up due to the altitude. The park ranger even warned us that it would take about twice as long to get back up, so be prepared!

We headed up to the summit at 3am from the Westin. We arrived at 5:00am about 1.5 hours before the sunrise.
Parking — All the parking spaces in the upper summit lot were full and double parking had started! It was full within 3 – 4 minutes.
Bathrooms — there are bathrooms at the upper visitors center but not at the summit.
The view — if you are on the summit viewing area and look down towards the visitors center the sun will rise a little to the right of it. The covered and uncovered viewing areas were full about 45 minutes before the sunrise. The sunrise itself was pretty but not amazing! This may have to do with the fact that the clouds were a bit high and that there were clouds so you did not get an awesome valley view! We hung out for awhile but the cloud did not start to roll off at all:-(This is why I gave 3 stars! I think you really need to come on a very clear day to get a 4 – 5 star view!
What to wear — I wore yoga pants under my jeans, a thermal shirt, thick yoga jacket and sweatshirt! I was COLD! When people say bring a blanket they mean it:-)
The drive up — I am scared of heights. As we started up 378 I thought «wow, what is all the hoopla about». Little did I know how bad it would get. All I kept thinking is how am I going to make it back down without having a heart attack. We decided I needed to recline the entire time so I could not see. That actually worked out for the most part:-)

Sure, it must be beautiful, though we never had the opportunity to see it.
The Parks Ranger at the ticket booth charged us $ 10 total or $ 10 each, I don’t recall, though we made our way up the winding road that makes the «Road to Hana» look like a super highway… and finally reached the top only to be told they were closed. We looked a little and left BACK DOWN the winding road to the gift shop, which would not shut-​up saying «We close in five minutes!». I bought some postcards to lie to my friends that we «actually» had been there and then were shown the door.
I DEMAND someone at the National Park re-​set the hours you allow people in. 1 hour before closing, STOP ADMITTANCE. Do NOT allow someone with 30 minutes left to enter just to make $ 10 or more and ruin our day’s trip.
The same goes for the gift shop. Stuff a cork (that’s C O R K…) in her mouth so we can focus on what we want to buy. Just lock the door (as ALL other stores do and don’t allow anyone else in while those inside can take 5 minutes to browse and shop.
I am not happy with the procedures, policies, methodology, or people that run that place. You’ve turned the beauty of nature into a tourist trap to the extreme. I’d like to hang at the main gate a «Now Hiring» sign…
5 STARS for Halelakala and ZERO STARS for everyone there. Ask your concierge for hours and such before heading out to this place. Save yourself the stress, enjoy the trip, and plan ahead. I’d go one step further next time and CALL myself the Halelakala information office and learn of the particular days and times of operation, along with the weather up there. If it’s nice or not, dress accordingly.
I really hope this helps you prepare for the trip you really want. I would think Halelakala is the #1 tourist attraction on Maui and to miss it because of no warning by the staff is UNSAT. You can and will form your own opinions. Please post your experiences here on Unilocal!as a comment to my post. Thank you.
Mahalo nui loa ~Joey

Gorgeous!!! We stayed at Kula Lodge and came here to see the sunrise. Some tips:
— If you’re staying at Kula, leave by 4:20 am for a 6:00 am sunrise and you’ll be good.
— There are no bathrooms once you start driving up to the summit. Remember to go beforehand!
— About a few minutes away from Kula Lodge, there is a man that operates a very small coffee shop. He offers hot coffee or tea. He does not have a fridge so he does not have milk or cream cheese, that you can buy bagels and there is creamer for coffee.
— A little past 6,500 feet, there’s a toll booth where you have to pay an entrance fee to get to the summit. I posted a photo of the fees. For a regular car it is $ 10. You’ll probably have to wait in line for 10 minutes or so but other than that the drive is pretty smooth.
— There are small signs on your way up to the summit that tell you how far you’ve come.
— I’m a California girl so really wasn’t sure what to expect when they said it would be cold. I wore leggings, a sweater, and tennis shoes and that was not enough. We even had a blanket but were still freezing. I can’t stress enough that you must bring very very very warm clothes.
Enjoy! Well worth it!

Warning: you will experience high altitude with 10,000 feet elevation, thinness of air, an hour or two drive on a winding road, could be cloudy and windy so drive cautiously, and temperature will drop down to about 50 degrees so be sure to dress warmly with closed shoes.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, prepare to be blown away by the most breathtaking and majestic views you could possibly imagine from above a sea of clouds. Be it early in the morning right before sunrise or late in the afternoon for sunset, what you’ll see is something so surreal. Simply spectacular!
A few things you want to prepare for would be blankets or jackets, lounge chairs, and most importantly, a camera that comes with a tripod if you have one. Bring food and water if you plan to stay up there for a while since I didn’t notice any place to purchase some.
For those into hiking, plenty of trails can be taken to the center of the crater ranging from an hour to an all day kinda thing. Up to you how far in you want to go. A viewing area of the volcano by the visitor center will also make for some picturesque photo background. Restroom facilities available there.
Please bring cash and exact change for the $ 10 entrance fee which is to be paid through a machine after the HALEAKALA signage. A patrol officer was parked just a few yards after to check tickets when we went.
A trip to Maui would definitely not be complete if you don’t make it all the way up here. It’s a MUST!!!

It’s a definite must-​do for Maui. The road is long and windy, but the reward is a breathtaking view. The photos from all the Unilocalers speak for themselves. The time of day you go will determine what you see obviously.
This time around I went in the middle of the day. I drive through clouds on my way up. Looking back down onto the clouds, they appeared fake. At some of the scenic view stops, it was eerily quiet.
Be sure to check out a plant called silverswords. They are dying off with the changing climate.
Some tips before you ascend:
* The roads are winding. Keep that in mind in wet weather, if you decide to go while it’s dark or if you easily get carsick.
* Wear a long sleeve shirt. It gets windy and chilly up there.
* There is a $ 10 national park entrance fee.

This place is definitely worth the drive, especially for the Sunrise! It’s not an amazing visitor center with a fancy museum or activities like Kilauea but it serves it’s purpose well. It’s a warm building to get out of the cold in the early morning and does have some touristy pictures, magnets and other items for purchase. No Snack bar or concessions and not a lot of seating, mostly standing room. If you come for a sunrise it will be very crowded pretty much anytime of the year on any day of the week but it’s a great view!
There is a big parking lot but it does fill up, if you get there too late for a sunrise when it’s busy you may get turned away from parking and have to wait until people start clearing out, this could result in you missing the show. Tours get there almost an hour before the sunrise to avoid this problem altogether, if you intend on visiting for sunrise you will want to get there early as well.
It’s cold… Although you are in Hawaii the temperature is around 30 degrees and the wind is blistering cold, I’m from Minnesota and know what cold is and I had to take breaks from the wind while we were here. It may warm up as the sun comes up and maybe a little more in the summer months but dress for the weather. It kind of feels like you are on another planet with the Lava rock and view of the sky and you can even see the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island. Awesome experience, definitely recommend.

Un site particulièrement magnifique si vous faites une visite à Maui (Hawaï).
Allez y avant le lever du soleil pour profiter d’un spectacle nature époustouflant.

Auf der zweitgrößten Insel von Hawaii — Maui — gibt es eine ganz spezielle Attraktion, die man sich nicht entgehen lassen sollte: Ein Sonnenaufgang auf dem Haleakala! Vor diesem beeindruckenden Erlebnis — dieses Ergebnis gleich vorweg — ist jedoch einiges an Überwindung aufzubringen, denn Sonnenaufgänge sind bekanntlich früh am Morgen und der Haleakala Summit (Gipfel) muss rechtzeitig erreicht werden.
Für uns hieß es: Wecker auf 03:00 h gestellt. Stockdunkle Nacht. Dann zwei Stunden Autofahrt vom Hotel, erst eben über die Insel und dann in unendlich vielen Serpentinen den Berg hinauf. Der Haleakala Berg liegt im gleichnamigen Nationalpark, d.h. Eintritt ist zu löhnen. Unser Ticket für die $ 10 zeigt 05:04 h AM. Der Sonnenaufgang für diesen Tag ist auf 06:17 h festgelegt.
Kurz vor dem Gipfel ein großer Parkplatz, wir sind nicht die ersten. Beim Öffnen der Wagentüren erwischt uns eisige Kälte, unten am Meer war es noch angenehm warm. Aber hier am Gipfel sind wir auf 10.023 ft (3.055 m) vom Meerespiegel aus gerechnet. Eigentlich ist der Berg noch höher, denn als ehemaliger Vulkan steigt er direkt aus dem Meer auf und erreicht von seinem eigentlichen Fuß aus eine Höhe von 5.053 m.
Oben am Gipfel eine Schutzhütte mit großen Panoramafenstern, die ein wenig Schutz vor dem kalten Wind bieten. Aber kernig wie wir sind, harren wir draußen dem kommenden Schauspiel, wohlweislich in dicken Jacken und einer Wolldecke eingehüllt. Ein Ranger erklärt uns die Vielfalt der Natur rund um uns herum, von der wir jetzt allerdings mehr ahnen als sehen. Und er passt höllisch darauf auf, dass nur keiner die zugelassenen Pfade verlässt, denn die so besonderen species, die hier leben, stehen unter strengem Naturschutz.
Dann beginnt das Schauspiel, wie es keine Theaterinszenierung besser machen kann. Erst färbt sich der Horizont in aufkommendes gelb-​rotes Licht. Tief unter uns erscheinen niedrigere Berggipfel eingepackt wie in Watte von wabenden Wolken. Ein Blick wie Ikarus ihn gehabt haben muss (bevor er abstürzte). Wir aber stürzen nicht ab, sind einfach nur überwältigt. Dann kommt sie, erst langsam, dann erscheint es uns immer schneller: die Sonne. Ringsherum klicken die Fotoapparate, sie halten diese Erinnerung fest, die Fotos sind aber nur ein bescheidenes Abbild dessen, was hier geschieht.
Ganz schnell ist dann alles vorbei, es wird wärmer, die Decken können verstaut werden. Jetzt meldet sich der Frühstückshunger, die Lodge auf halbem Weg runter wartet auf uns. Doch davon später ein separater Beitrag.
Fazit: Sonnenaufgang auf dem Haleakala Summit, er hält alles, was die Hawaii-​Reiseführer versprechen. Fahrt auch hinauf, wenn unten im Tal alles in Wolken hängt und ihr eventuell auf den Serpentinen durch Regenschauer fahren müsst. Der Gipfel ist fast immer wolkenfrei. Sterne passen eigentlich nicht zur Sonne, aber da ich hier nicht fünf Sonnen verteilen kann, sind es halt fünf Sterne.