Sunrise at Haleakala

Watching the sunrise at the summit of Haleakala National Park was one of the highlights of my trip to Maui.  Not only was the view breathtaking, but the ride up to Haleakala was a good experience on its own.  I considered joining the tours at first to experience the 23 mile downhill bike ride, but because my parents are nowhere near athletic and the tours prohibited pregnant sisters to join… we decided to drive up ourselves!

DRIVE

The sun was due to rise at 6:03am that morning, and google map had estimated the journey from our flat (in Kehei) to Haleakala to take approximately 1 hour and 3 minutes.  Other blogs I referenced, however, had indicated that it takes around 2 hours to drive from Kihei to Haleakala.  We were not ready to miss this experience of a lifetime, so we decided to play it safe (and we are so glad we did!).

We woke up at 3am and left the house at 3:40am. The drive itself really doesn’t take long if the roads are traffic free. But… of course, they weren’t. We took almost 2 hours to get up to Halealaka because of the horrible drivers in front of us who stepped on their brakes every few seconds. The road to the summit is one lane in each direction, there are no lights, and it  pretty much runs zig zag all the way up. Trying to pass the car in front of you is almost impossible.

HIKE

The per-vehicle entrance fee is $15, and your ticket is valid for three days and at several other national parks around the area.  Once you arrive at the parking lot, you will see a bunch of people standing around the ledge waiting for the sunrise already.  Of course, you can follow the crowd and stop here. But if you are feeling adventurous, to the right of this crowd is a narrow path that takes you further up. The 0.5 mile path is pitch black and unevenly paved, so bringing a flashlight along is highly recommended!  We mistakenly thought this road was as high up as you can get so we stopped here to enjoy the breathtaking view of the sunrise here. The pictures below will describe the view better than any words I attempt to put together.

SUMMIT

We realised shortly after that the “real” road to the summit is actually the road on your right hand side just before you enter the visitors parking lot.  We drove up there to take a look afterwards but parking was really limited (approximately 40 spots).  So it is highly recommended you leave even earlier if you want to secure a spot in the summit! The view was again indescribable, but I was already pretty satisfied with the view I got from the hiking trail. It was not too crowded and I felt closer to the sun  — or maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better, ha!

TIPS

• Dress warm as the temperature does drop significantly during the night
• Bring a flashlight or two
• Leave early because there’s bound to be traffic
• If you want to go up to the summit, then turn right just before you enter the visitors parking lot
• Check out the highly endangered silversword plants