Haleakalā National Park Things to Do

One way that we show aloha is by respecting the forces of nature present here. There is a Hawaiian proverb, "he wai makamaka ole" (water recognizes no friend). In Kīpahulu this rings true year-round. Water has no friends and will destroy anything in its path. There are several reasons for swimming closures here, but the most important is for your safety. It is a priority of ours, to ensure that your visit is safe and enjoyable. The streams and waterfalls here can be very unpredictable. As children, Hawaiians are taught to look towards the mountains before entering fresh water streams, pools, waterfalls, or ponds. This is because it could be sunny near sea level but raining in the mountains. Rain in the mountains means a higher chance of flash flooding, which can make a good day turn bad. If someone is caught in the stream or under a waterfall during a flash flood, the chances of surviving are slim. Some people ask, "but what if its sunny in the mountains?" The water isn't the only hidden danger. Falling rocks are extremely common and a number of fatalities have occurred in Kīpahulu from people getting too close to the waterfalls. It may be tempting to ignore the closure signs, but it’s not worth it. At the bottom of ʻOheʻo Gulch and within the ‘Oheʻo pools there are many rocks. These rocks come from the surrounding cliffs. Falling rocks can be silent with the roar of the waterfalls. As you finish your walk in the park, take time to reflect on everything you have seen and learned about Kīpahulu. The knowledge and lessons of kūpuna informs our understanding of safety and survival today.

Welcome to the Kīpahulu District of Haleakalā National Park! We’re glad you’re joining us today for a self-guided walk of the Kūloa Point Trail. As you’ll learn along this trail, for generations Kīpahulu has been a place of community, labor, and rest. We’ll think about what makes a place a home, and how we carry our homes with us wherever we go. Please remember, Kīpahulu is still a home! It is a home to the generations of Native Hawaiians who live in the area today. It is a home to plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. And it is a home to incredible forces that can shape this place in dramatic ways. For that reason, please be respectful and: Stay on trail at all times Do not disturb natural or archeological sites Do not stack or take rocks The Kīpahulu Visitor Center welcomes hundreds of visitors a day to Haleakalā National Park. Located in East Maui overlooking the Alenuihāhā Channel that divides Maui from Hawaiʻi Island. The visitor center deck provides views of the ocean, and, on a clear day, of Hawaiʻi Island thirty miles in the distance. Kīpahulu is one of the few preserved moku districts of Maui. A moku district is a system used by pre-Contact Hawaiians for dividing land and establishing the rule of law. The objects in the visitor center showcase that this is a homeland for people for over too many generations to count. As you continue along this loop trail around the Kūloa point, you can begin to see the importance of Kīpahulu as a home. You can discover plants brought by Polynesian voyagers, observe hale built by early people, and feel the natural beauty of ʻOheʻo Gulch and the vast shoreline of east Maui. This land has provided for generations of ʻohana (families), and here a sacred bond has formed between people and place. Enter with aloha (respect,) for this is a homeland and you are walking into their cherished house. In this area you will also feel the power of water, which makes up the geographic boundaries of the moku. Fresh water was key to survival, and every moku village had enough water for everyone. It was the ocean from which the early people came to Maui. Waʻa (canoes) were the vessels carrying people and all they needed to establish a home. Making your way to the next stop think about your homes and what is it that ties you to your ‘āina (land)? What are some ways that one can show aloha (respect) to a place?

Stop 7 along the Kūloa Point Trail

Take a short, 0.3 mile (0.5 km) roundtrip walk to experience the native shrubland and catch a glimpse of the Haleakalā crater through the clouds. This rocky trail has a moderate elevation gain and leads to a partially enclosed shelter on the edge of the crater.

Stop 5 along the Hosmer Grove Nature Trail.

Stop 3 in the Hosmer Grove Nature Walk

One way that we show aloha is by respecting the forces of nature present here. There is a Hawaiian proverb, "he wai makamaka ole" (water recognizes no friend). In Kīpahulu this rings true year-round. Water has no friends and will destroy anything in its path. There are several reasons for swimming closures here, but the most important is for your safety. It is a priority of ours, to ensure that your visit is safe and enjoyable. The streams and waterfalls here can be very unpredictable. As children, Hawaiians are taught to look towards the mountains before entering fresh water streams, pools, waterfalls, or ponds. This is because it could be sunny near sea level but raining in the mountains. Rain in the mountains means a higher chance of flash flooding, which can make a good day turn bad. If someone is caught in the stream or under a waterfall during a flash flood, the chances of surviving are slim. Some people ask, "but what if its sunny in the mountains?" The water isn't the only hidden danger. Falling rocks are extremely common and a number of fatalities have occurred in Kīpahulu from people getting too close to the waterfalls. It may be tempting to ignore the closure signs, but it’s not worth it. At the bottom of ʻOheʻo Gulch and within the ‘Oheʻo pools there are many rocks. These rocks come from the surrounding cliffs. Falling rocks can be silent with the roar of the waterfalls. As you finish your walk in the park, take time to reflect on everything you have seen and learned about Kīpahulu. The knowledge and lessons of kūpuna informs our understanding of safety and survival today.

Drive to the highest point on Maui for 360 degree views of neighbor islands and ocean vistas. The observation deck can be accessed via a stairwell or an inclined path.

Take a moment to catch your breath as you walk around this summit parking lot. The air is thinner up here – that means there’s far less oxygen in the atmosphere at this elevation! Some of the air you’re breathing is present because of the gas bubbles you saw in the lava flows below. A rich atmosphere is just one of the contributions that volcanoes make to our planet. Eruptions like the one you’re standing on produce materials that are necessary for the bodies we have, the life the planet sustains, and the technology that humans have created. Active volcanoes enrich the atmosphere with water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and many other gases. They create new land and bring essential elements to the surface. On a clear day, looking for the large mountainous silhouette in the distance, you can see the impact of that shield-building process still in action on Hawai‘i Island. The two tallest peaks of the Big Island are some of the most massive mountains on the planet, underwater volume included - Mauna Kea (13,800’) and Mauna Loa (13,700’). It’s important to learn and use those Hawaiian names! They hold cultural significance and are often descriptive. Here we see Mauna (mountain) Kea (white) and Mauna (mountain) Loa (long). The taller and steeper peak of Mauna Kea is often capped with snow in winter, visibly a “white mountain” even from this distance. Mauna Loa is indeed a “long mountain” with a more gradual profile. The difference in their distinct shapes is tied to the fact that Mauna Kea is older – its eruptions have become increasingly explosive over time as the magma in its reservoir slowly crystallizes, degasses, and becomes more viscous. Even though volcanoes like Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Haleakalā are incredibly massive and have been active for a very long time, they can’t hold a candle to humanity’s greenhouse gas output. Industrial systems and global burning of fossil fuels emit a Mount St. Helens-sized eruption of CO2 every 2.5 hours! Climate change driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions poses a greater threat to the life, culture, and history here than any future eruption.

A short hike next to the Haleakalā Visitor Center allows you to see a different view of the crater and some cultural resources of the park. Though the trail is only 0.4 mile (.6 km) roundtrip, it gains 100 feet of elevation to the overlook.

Stop 3 along the Kūloa Point guided hike

Stop 4 on the Hosmer Grove Nature Trail

Stop 6 on the Hosmer Grove Nature Trail.

It took two million years for this landscape to take shape, molded by the countless layers of lava beneath, the relentless heat of the mantle plume below Hawai‘i, and the slow erosion of rain against the mountainside. Through the windows of the shelter, you can reflect on a storied landscape carved by creation and destruction – eruption and erosion. How many eruption features can you see “crater” valley floor? What about erosion features? On a clear day, there are 13 puʻu visible on the valley floor. They may look small, but some are nearly 1,000 feet tall! These cone-shaped eruption features formed during the eruption of “fire fountains.” When very runny and extremely hot basaltic material gets pushed out of a fissure in the volcano by gas pressure, jets of that molten lava can shoot thousands of feet up in the air. That projectile lava cools as it falls to the ground, piling up around the base of the fire fountain and welding together into the cinder or scoria cones you see today. Fire fountains look very dramatic but are only mildly explosive. These eruption events are part of the process of creating new land. The longer a Hawaiian volcano remains near a heat source, the more rock it spills out, and the larger the island becomes. This volcano is moving away from its heat source – not a convergent tectonic plate boundary like what fuels the volcanoes along the “Ring of Fire”, or a divergent plate boundary like what fuels volcanism in the East African Rift. Instead, this volcano’s activity is driven by a hotspot or mantle plume, a current of heat rising from a deeper layer of the planet which melts the crust above in just one area at a time. There are dozens of mantle plumes on the planet, but some are more famous than others – Yellowstone, Galapagos, and Iceland (also on a divergent plate boundary) are a few examples. As the moving Pacific Plate slowly drags Maui westward, away from the mantle plume that’s now centered underneath Hawai‘i Island, the eruptions from this volcano have become less productive, and the forces of weathering and erosion now dominate the landscape. The deep valleys leading to the ocean, tall pali (cliffs) towering on each side of the crater, and the roaring waterfalls of the Kīpahulu District are the signifiers of this erosion.

Standing next to the Haleakalā Visitor Center, behind the railing, you are on the edge of a deep, oddly shaped valley. In your opinion, which letter of the alphabet best matches the shape of the depression before you? If the weather is clear, you can see straight across the Haleakalā Crater. The name Haleakalā Crater is historic, but it’s not a true crater or caldera. This “crater” shape is actually an erosional valley carved by water, not by a big explosion - that’s why its shape is more like an “S” or a “W” than a perfect “O”. Look for two large river-carved valleys on each side of the volcano- they intersect the crater at Ko'olau Gap to the north and Kaupō Gap to the east. Over hundreds of thousands of years, flowing water in these valleys cut upstream until they coalesced to form the summit depression. Over the last several thousand years, mildly explosive volcanic eruptions have filled and flattened the bottom of the originally V-shaped valley, shaping the present-day flat crater floor and marking it with the red and black scoria cone puʻu (hills) that you see. The inside of the crater is filled a riot of colors. Black, red, orange, yellow, grey, and green swirl across lava flows and over cinder cones. The orange and green are mostly signs of vegetation growing among the rocks, and the variation from red to black is largely due to different amounts of oxidation, or rust, of the iron contained in the basaltic lava and cinder. Oxidation can vary within a single eruption, caused by different amounts of water vapor in the melt coming up to the surface, or change over time due to weathering–exposure to air, precipitation, and harsh ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Just like the red rocks, your red (oxygenated) blood also contains oxidized iron, mostly in your red blood cells and muscle tissues. It’s necessary to transport oxygen to your lungs, a function that is put to the test at this elevation. Before this mountain’s summit eroded into the crater you see below, the extra several thousand feet of elevation would have made the air feel even thinner!

Stop two on the Hosmer Grove Nature Walk

Stop 4 along the Kūloa Point Trail

Learn about Hawaiian culture, both past and present, when you visit this traditional hale. The Hale Hālāwai is a great place to view cultural practices, when available.

Kīpahulu began as a coastal village. Walking along Kūloa Point Trail provides an opportunity to witness formations built by diligent and skilled hands hundreds, perhaps even a thousand years ago. They voyaged from distant Polynesian islands to the Hawaiian islands, eventually creating what we know as a distinct Hawaiian culture and settling in Kīpahulu (likely around the 12th century). Two archeological sites welcome you as you approach the view shed of the Alenuihāhā Channel along the coast of Kīpahulu. First, you will come across a small ahu called a koʻa or fish shrine. Kīpahulu is said to be home of Laka, the god of the canoe makers. Chief ʻUmi from Hawaiʻi Island employed Lulana, a canoe maker from Kīpahulu. It was said that “no canoes equaled the canoes of Lulana in the days of ʻUmi or of the ancient chiefs before him.” ʻUmi thus named Lulana "chief over all canoe experts or poʻe kahuna kalaʻi on Hawaiʻi Island." Before launching their waʻa (canoes) into the sea, fishers leave offerings at koʻa to ensure a good catch and safe journey. The next site you will see is a hale noa (sleeping house.) We discussed these types of houses earlier when we stopped at the hale hālāwai. Continue to the next stop to learn how Hawaiian children are taught to respect the power of water in their home.

Stop 2 on the Kūloa Point Trail

Your first stop when visiting the Kīpahulu District, an area full of views of waterfalls, sweeping ocean vistas, and Hawaiian cultural experiences.

This entrance station will be your first stop when visiting the Summit District of Haleakalā National Park. From here, driving to the top of the mountain can take 30 minutes, depending on conditions.

What kind of story does your body tell about your experience? Maybe you have calluses on your hands, or freckles from time in the sun. Volcanoes also change as they age and based on their surroundings. Sometimes they change gradually and other times violently. The “body” of a volcano is shaped by eruptions and erosion. By looking at the dark, porous rocks in the roadcut beside this pull-out, you can see evidence of how this volcano has grown. Like most Hawaiian volcanoes, the shield shape underlying Haleakalā is the result of effusive and mildly explosive volcanic activty. Effusive eruptions are the quiet kind that produce steadily flowing pāhoehoe and ‘a‘ā lava. These effusive basaltic eruptions are so abundant throughout Hawai‘i that geologists use those Hawaiian words to describe similar eruptions around the world. Mildly explosive eruptions are the kind that shoot gas and molten rock material into the air. At Haleakalā, most eruptions had both a mildly explosive (fire-fountaining) and effusive (lava) phase. Any eruption here would have been very mild compared to Mt. St. Helens, Vesuvius, or Krakatoa. Standing on the shoulder of the pull-off, you are facing a road-cut through several rock layers. These rock layers are mafic–cooled from a melt (igneous), heavy with iron and magnesium, and dark in color. The mafic rocks you see are basaltic lava flows that cooled and hardened on the volcano’s surface (extrusive), rather than inside of the volcano (intrusive). The lava flows on this volcano can take two forms–pāhoehoe and ‘a‘ā. At this stop, the layers are ‘a‘ā. ‘A‘ā lava moves downhill in open channels, a dense central core sandwiched between rubbly layers called “clinker”. Can you find the dense core of this lava flow and layers of rubbly clinker above and below?

A covered shelter perfect for taking a break from the sun or rain or enjoying a picnic next to the quiet forest grove. A short 0.5 mile (0.8 km) loop trail through the surrounding forest and shrubland departs from this parking lot.

Stop 1 along the Hosmer Grove Nature Walk

E komo mai, Welcome to Haleakalā National Park – Summit District. Parking your vehicle at the Headquarters Visitor Center, hop out and take a look around. Everything under your feet is the East Maui Volcano, whose summit region is known as Haleakalā (House of the Sun). This massive shield volcano has a summit that soars 10,023 feet into the atmosphere, and it is rooted to the ocean floor 19,680 feet below sea level. East Maui Volcano is the younger of two volcanoes that make up the island of Maui, and it’s the only active volcano in the state that is NOT on the island of Hawai‘i. Even though geologists classify this volcano as active, you won’t see any hot lava, ash clouds, gas vents, or hot springs during your visit. Volcanoes operate on a much longer timeline than human lives, so their activity can be measured over hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years. There is no universal timeline for when active volcanoes become dormant, or when a dormant volcano becomes extinct. When geologists say that a volcano is “active,” it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is currently erupting. Rather, that volcano has erupted recently and most likely will erupt again. This volcano has experienced about 13 eruptions in last 1,500 years, the most recent eruption being 400-600 years ago near the town of Makena on the south coast.

The Kalahaku Overlook features a 0.1 mile walk to a simple structure that provides a unique view of the Haleakalā crater. The overlook can be accessed via a sloped path that starts from the first parking lot, or via the stairs at the second parking lot.

Take a short walk to new views of the crater along Keoneheʻeheʻe (Sliding Sands) Trail.

What is your favorite sparkling or carbonated beverage? Volcanic eruptions are just like your delightful bubbly beverage of choice. Check out the rocks at this stop to see the comparision in action. Keep in mind that these rocks are part of the park and should remain where you find them. It is culturally disrespectful and illegal to disturb or remove any rocks from Haleakalā. When molten rock is deep underground, it’s called magma. The weight of the overlying rock keeps magma under immense pressure, dissolving gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide into the molten mixture. If the hot, pressurized magma reaches a weak spot in the crust above, it shoots up toward the surface. Pressure on the magma decreases as it rises, and the dissolved gases will reach a point where they change from liquid to gas form, expanding into bubbles inside the magma and forcing it to rise even faster. If it reaches the surface, it becomes lava! Consider a glass bottle of champagne. An airtight container holds a fluid mixed with dissolved gas (carbon dioxide) under intense pressure without exploding. If you look through the glass, it only appears to be liquid. However, as you dramatically remove the cork, the contents that were under pressure now experience rapid decompression, and all of the dissolved gas suddenly explodes out of the top of the bottle as a spray of frothy bubbles. Compare the bottled liquid to magma underneath the volcano, and the explosion of foam and bubbles to the cooled lava on the ground at this stop. If you take a close look at the lava rocks around this parking area, the many holes you see are bubbles frozen in time–they show where the gas was at the time of the eruption. As this lava flowed and cooled, the bubbles changed shape by joining together or stretching out. By observing the gas content of lava through features like these bubbles, scientists can estimate a lava flow’s likely movement, patterns, and speeds.

Take a moment to appreciate this scenery. Look across the Alenuihāhā Channel. On a clear day, we can see Hawai’i Island, 30 miles away. Enjoy the rhythmic wonder of wave after wave coming in to crash ashore below these ancient volcanic cliffs. Look up to the mountains behind you and see the waterfalls and cascades of the Palikea Stream flowing through ‘Oheʻo Gulch and into the Pacific Ocean. Reflect on the the things we’ve discovered on our journey to this spot, Kūloa Point. Along this path we enjoyed a peaceful walk and breathtaking scenery. We encoutered up close much of the heritage of Maui. We saw the hale hālāwai and learned about the purpose of traditional buildings that Kīpahulu was once a sprawling village full of activity. We also saw how this landscape has changed since the time Maui was contacted by the outside world. New immigrants brought with them many of the plants we noticed along the way. We stopped in a hala grove and learned of the park’s kuleana (responsibility) to protect the plants native to Hawaiian culture. We also saw a real hale noa and the fishing shrines used by people who lived here. Here at Kūloa Point, all of these themes run together. This is the homeland to thousands of ‘ohana (families) that can trace their moʻo kūʻauhau (geneology) to this part of Maui. Here, their ancestors fished these waters, built their hale, irrigated their crops, and taught their children and grandchildren to practice mālāma ʻāina (caring for the land). Their voices are still heard in the sounds of the landscape: the rushing waters, the crashing waves, and the wind through the lau hala. The message these kūpuna (ancestors) want us to take from this experience is to mālāma ʻāina wherever we call home, as well as wherever we visit. Mahalo for joining us on this tour today, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Haleakalā National Park.

Kuloa Point Guided Hike

Enter the park's Wilderness on the Keoneheʻeheʻe (Sliding Sands) Trail and take a moderate out-and-back hike partway down the windswept cinder slope. This is among the most popular hikes in the park thanks to its unbeatable crater views.

Experienced hikers can "thru" hike the crater from Keoneheʻeheʻe (Sliding Sands) Trailhead, across the crater floor, and out to Halemauʻu Trailhead. This hike is extremely strenuous and should only be undertaken by individuals who are equipped for a wilderness environment.

Start your day at the top of Haleakalā. With an advance sunrise reservation, visitors can await the dawn from any of four lookouts leading to the summit.

Complete activities featuring the plants, animals, and history of Haleakalā to earn your Junior Ranger badge!

The HPPA operates three bookstores at Haleakalā National Park and they are located at Park Headquarters, Haleakalā Visitor Center, and Kīpahulu Visitor Center. The HPPA also maintains an online bookstore.

Listen to the sounds of the bamboo forest as the towering stalks creak, clack, and clang along the Pīpīwai Trail! Pick up the trail to the left of the Kīpahulu Visitor Center. The hike is 1 mile (1.6 km) round trip with an average hiking time of 1 hour. Be prepared for a hot hike and carry water, a snack, and sun protection!

Golden light. Verdant forests. White waters. View Makahiku Falls from the Pīpīwai Trail in the Kīpahulu District of Haleakalā National Park.

Take a short .3 mile (.5 km) roundtrip walk out to Leleiwi Overlook. Pass native plants on your way to a spectacular view of the crater and the Koʻolau Gap.

Meander through native shrubland to glimpse rare forest birds and a variety of plants found only in Hawaiʻi.