Haleakala Backpacking

Haleakala Crater is a very unique place. Imagine being on Maui — a lush tropical island in the middle of the Pacific — and then driving for an hour on switchbacks up the slopes of a 10,000’ volcano only to end up looking into a crater seven miles long, two miles wide, and a half mile deep. And at the bottom is a landscape the most resembles the surface of the moon — sandy, rocky, rugged — but also has verdant sections, one-of-a-kind flora, and a large population of endangered nene (the Hawaiian goose).

Haleakala may be most famous for its sunrise. Visitors from around the globe wake up at 3am and drive from their seaside condos and hotels to the top of the mountain to watch the famous sunrise. The incredible part of Haleakala sunrises is how long they last. For nearly an hour the sky is lighting up and changing, until the sun pops up over the clouds — which, but the way, are usually floating below you.

Perhaps the only thing that beats a sunrise from Haleakala summit is a sunrise from inside the crater, where the cliffs around you slowly light up. Not to mention, down there you’re free from the crowds that pile up at the summit.

We were lucky to catch on perfect sunrise from the inside the crater. How did we get there? And what tips do we have for people who want to see it? Keep reading!

The only way to be in the crater at dawn is to sleep there, and that means backpacking. There are two tent sites and three cabins inside the crater. Holua cabins and Paliku cabins have adjacent tent sites. Kapalaoa cabin does not have a tent site nearby.

Reservations for cabins at Haleakala are not easy to get. We happened get notice of the date in September when the park opened up the backlog created by the pandemic. We logged on that morning and snagged two nights in two cabins in mid-December. Holua and Kapalaoa cabins were open for a maximum of four people. Paliku cabin was not available to reserve at that time because of a lack of water.

The typical cabin backpacking route begins at the summit area and takes the Keonehe’ehe’e (Sliding Sands) Trail to Kapalaoa Cabin on Day One (~6 miles & 2,700’ down). On Day Two proceed to Paliku Cabin (3.5 miles & 1,000’ down). On Day Three, hike back across the crater to Holua Cabin (~7 miles & 1,000’ up and down). Day 4 is a hike out from Holua on the Halemau’u Trail (~4 miles and 1,400’ up), and a hitchhike back to the tip. If you’re in a tent, the Day One and Two are combined, and you spend the first night at Paliku, then follow the same route out.

There are other trails in the middle of the crater to explore, though some aren’t as well marked as the primary backpacking routes. In fact, if it has rained recently and erased previous footprints, some may be impossible to find. (We learned this the hard way). There is also a trail out of the Paliku side of the crater, down the Kaupo Gap. If you’re in cabins all three nights, you can add a few miles down the Kaupo Trail from Paliku.

In our case, because of the way we booked our cabins, we ended up starting at Halemau’u trailhead and sleeping in Holua at the end of Day One. This was better for two reasons. One, we had to fly over in the morning from O’ahu, so having a shorter Day 1 hike was ideal. Two, we only had one car, and hitchhiking down from the summit is easier than hitchhiking up from Halemau’u parking lot — although both are possible and common.

The switchbacks coming down Halemau’u Trail provide gorgeous vistas of the crater — a truly unique angle for seeing Haleakala. There are also many day hikers making their way down into the crater on this trail. And there are a few folks coming back up after descending on Sliding Sands — a 12 mile day hike with almost 3,000’ in elevation, plus a hitchhike at the end.

Day Two was short and less elevation, but still strenuous. If you’re imagining the inside of the crater as a flat abyss, think again. It’s relatively lifeless, but the volcanic eruptions have left behind huge fields of a’a (craggy lava), huge pu’u (cinder cones), and tons of fine black sand. It’s not easy hiking, but it’s not technical either.

We spent the second night in Kapalaoa Cabin. We arrived at mid-day. So, after lunch, we dropped our packs and made a run out to Paliku Cabin (~8 miles round trip via the route we took).

Day Three was the most challenging as we climbed on Keonehe’ehe’e Trail more than 2,700’ over almost six miles to exit the crater near the summit.

All cabins have a pit toilet, a kitchen sink with running (non-potable) water, a single-burner propane stove, four triple bunks with thin mattresses, and a large table that seats 12. When we used the cabins, occupancy was limited to four people per Covid restrictions, so we were able to stretch out a bit.

The water needs to be purified, filtered, or boiled — especially at Kapalaoa and Paliku. The NPS also provides three logs per night’s reservation in a locker for use in the wood-burning stove, which can keep the cabin a bit warmer at night. It can get cold atop Haleakala — it’s even known to snow occasionally in the winter.

To book the cabins for a weekend you basically have to snag them as soon as they become available. For weekdays, there are sometimes openings. Tent permit reservations are easier to get, but still require significant advanced planning.

If you have questions about backpacking at Haleakala, direct message us on Instagram @parktoparktour

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Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park