National Parks › Pacific Islands › Haleakalā

Haleakalā National Park

Hawaii · Established July 1, 1961

From a cinder desert above the clouds to rain-fed pools beside the sea

Area: 33,489 acres
Established: July 1, 1961
Recreation visits: 853,711 / yr
State: Hawaii
Highest point: Puʻu ʻUlaʻula (Red Hill), 10,023 ft (3,055 m)
Lowest point: Sea level at the Kīpahulu coast

Haleakalā Weather Forecast

Loading the National Weather Service forecast for Haleakalā…

Seven-day outlook at the park's reference point (20.707, -156.159). Elevation changes everything in the mountains — expect colder, windier and wetter conditions on high ground.

Map of Haleakalā National Park

The Park

Haleakalā, the great shield volcano that forms the eastern two-thirds of Maui, rises to 10,023 feet at Puʻu ʻUlaʻula. Its summit holds a vast basin of red, orange, and charcoal cinder cones that early visitors took for a volcanic crater, though it is really the work of erosion, carved by two great valleys that met near the top and later partly refilled with lava and cinders.

The park reaches from that cold, luminous summit down the rain-drenched Kīpahulu Valley to the ocean at ʻOheʻo. Along the way it shelters plants and birds found nowhere else on Earth, among them the silver-leaved ʻāhinahina, the nēnē, and honeycreepers such as the ʻākohekohe and kiwikiu, and it holds places woven deeply into Hawaiian culture and story.

Geography

Haleakalā National Park has two districts that do not connect by road. The Summit District occupies the upper slopes and the wilderness of the summit basin, while the Kīpahulu District descends the southeastern flank of the mountain through Kīpahulu Valley to the coast along the Hāna Highway. Between them lies a steep, protected rainforest reserved for research and conservation.

Elevation is the park's master variable. In a few miles the land passes from coastal lowland through wet montane forest and subalpine shrubland to an alpine cinder desert where frost is common and rainfall is sparse. The trade winds pile clouds against the windward slopes below the summit, so the same mountain can be bone-dry on its rim and soaked a few thousand feet below.

The summit basin itself stretches roughly seven miles across and plunges about 2,600 feet below the rim. The Koʻolau Gap opens to the north and the Kaupō Gap to the south, the headwalls of the valleys that carved this great depression.

Landmarks

Puʻu ʻUlaʻula (Red Hill)Peak · 10,023 ftThe summit of Haleakalā, crowned by a small shelter with sweeping views across the basin to Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Kalahaku OverlookAreaA rim viewpoint where silverswords grow near the edge and the summit basin opens below.
Leleiwi PaliAreaThe cliffs along the western rim, where an overlook frames the basin and the cloud sea beyond.
Hosmer GroveAreaAn early-1900s plantation of exotic trees beside native shrubland, a favored spot for spotting honeycreepers.
Koʻolau GapValleyThe northern breach in the summit basin, headwall of a great valley draining toward the windward coast.
Kaupō GapValleyThe southern opening of the summit basin, where lava flows spilled down toward the Kaupō coast.
ʻOheʻo GulchRiverA stream gorge in the Kīpahulu District where waterfalls tumble through a chain of pools to the sea.
Waimoku FallsWaterfallA tall ribbon of water spilling over a lava cliff at the end of the Pīpīwai Trail, reached through a bamboo forest.

Geology

Like every Hawaiian island, Maui was built by volcanoes fed from a hotspot deep in the mantle beneath the moving Pacific Plate. Haleakalā began growing on the seafloor roughly two million years ago, and roughly 97 percent of its immense bulk still lies below sea level. The oldest lavas exposed above the waves are about 1.1 million years old.

During its main shield-building stage the volcano poured out fluid basalt that stacked into a broad, gently sloping dome. As the Pacific Plate carried Maui away from the hotspot, eruptions grew less frequent and their lavas more varied, and the mountain entered its later, post-shield stage. Eruptions have continued along a long rift zone that runs from La Perouse Bay on the southwest coast, through the summit, toward Hāna in the east. The volcano has erupted at least ten times in the past thousand years, most recently sometime between about 1480 and 1600.

The famous summit depression is not a caldera formed by collapse. Heavy rainfall on the windward slopes cut deep stream valleys that ate headward into the mountain until two of them, one draining north through Koʻolau Gap and one south through Kaupō Gap, met near the summit. Later eruptions built colorful cinder cones on the valley floors and sent lava flows spilling down through the gaps.

Haleakalā is still considered a potentially active volcano, and its summit and southwest rift zone carry a moderate hazard rating from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Deep time

About 2 million years agoHaleakalā begins to grow on the Pacific seafloor above the Hawaiian hotspot.
About 1.1 million years agoAge of the oldest lava flows now exposed above sea level.
Hundreds of thousands of years agoThe main shield stage wanes and eruptions become less frequent as the volcano moves off the hotspot.
Last several hundred thousand yearsStreams carve great valleys that merge near the summit, forming the erosional basin and the Koʻolau and Kaupō gaps.
Last 30,000 yearsEruptions along the southwest and east rift zones build cinder cones and lava flows, some pouring through the gaps.
About 1480–1600 CEThe most recent eruption of Haleakalā, on the southwest rift zone.

The rocks

Shield-stage basaltsPleistocene
Fluid, thin lava flows that built the broad body of the volcano and are exposed in deep valley walls.
Post-shield lavas and cinder conesPleistocene to Holocene
Later eruptions that built the cones and flows dotting the summit basin.
Haleakalā summit basinPleistocene to Holocene
An erosional depression about 2,600 ft deep, partly refilled by younger volcanic deposits.
Southwest and east rift zonesActive over the past 30,000 years
The long fracture system that has fed the volcano's youngest eruptions.

Trees, Plants & Ecosystems

789vascular plant species recorded

Alpine and aeolian cinder desertAbout 8,000–10,023 ft
Sparse, frost-bitten cinder slopes where silverswords, native grasses, and the insects blown upslope by the wind eke out a living.
Subalpine shrublandAbout 6,500–9,000 ft
Pūkiawe, ʻōhelo, native geraniums, and dubautias form low shrublands favored by nēnē.
Montane wet forestAbout 2,000–7,000 ft
Ancient ʻōhiʻa lehua and koa forest draped in ferns and mosses in Kīpahulu Valley, refuge for endangered honeycreepers.
Lowland and coastal KīpahuluSea level–2,000 ft
Streams and waterfalls cascade through pools at ʻOheʻo; much of the lowland forest here is now dominated by introduced species such as bamboo and strawberry guava.

Trees

ʻŌhiʻa lehuaMetrosideros polymorphaNative; the keystone tree of Hawaiian forests, with red pompom blossoms that feed nectar-sipping birds.
KoaAcacia koaNative and endemic; a towering hardwood with sickle-shaped phyllodes, prized for canoes.
MāmaneSophora chrysophyllaNative and endemic; a yellow-flowered legume of high dry slopes.
Kōlea lau nuiMyrsine lessertianaNative and endemic; a forest tree whose young leaves flush pink.
ʻŌlapaCheirodendron trigynumNative and endemic; its fluttering leaves inspired the movement of hula dancers.
KāwaʻuIlex anomalaNative; a Hawaiian holly of wet montane forest.
Haleakalā sandalwood (ʻiliahi)Santalum haleakalaeNative and endemic to Maui; a fragrant sandalwood with red flowers on the upper slopes.
ʻAʻaliʻiDodonaea viscosaNative; a hardy shrub or small tree with papery, reddish seed capsules.
Strawberry guavaPsidium cattleianumIntroduced; an aggressive invader that forms dense thickets in Kīpahulu's lowland forest.
Japanese cedarCryptomeria japonicaIntroduced; one of the exotic conifers planted in the early 1900s at Hosmer Grove.

Wildflowers, shrubs & other plants

Haleakalā silversword (ʻāhinahina)Argyroxiphium sandwicenseNative and endemic; a silvery rosette that grows for decades, blooms once in a tall stalk of flowers, and dies.
PūkiaweLeptecophylla tameiameiaeNative; a prickly shrub with white, pink, or red berries, common in the subalpine zone.
ʻŌheloVaccinium reticulatumNative and endemic; a relative of the blueberry whose red fruits are a favorite of nēnē.
Hinahina (Haleakalā geranium)Geranium cuneatumNative and endemic; a silver-leaved geranium of high, open slopes.
NaʻenaʻeDubautia menziesiiNative and endemic; a shrubby cousin of the silversword with yellow flower heads.
HairgrassDeschampsia nubigenaNative and endemic; a tufted bunchgrass of the summit area.
KūpaoaCoprosma ernodeoidesNative and endemic; a trailing shrub with shiny black berries on cinder slopes.
ʻĀkalaRubus hawaiensisNative and endemic; a nearly thornless Hawaiian raspberry of wet forest.
ʻAmaʻuSadleria cyatheoidesNative and endemic; a small tree fern whose new fronds unfurl red.
HāpuʻuCibotium glaucumNative and endemic; a large tree fern of the rainforest understory.
UluheDicranopteris linearisNative; a forking fern that blankets disturbed slopes in wet forest.

Wildlife

13mammals
40birds
9reptiles
3amphibians
6fish

Mammals

Hawaiian hoary bat (ʻōpeʻapeʻa)Lasiurus cinereusNative; the state's only native land mammal, an endangered bat seen at dusk.
Small Indian mongooseHerpestes javanicusIntroduced; a predator of ground-nesting birds such as nēnē.
Feral pigSus scrofaIntroduced; rooting pigs damage native forest and are excluded by fencing.
Feral goatCapra hircusIntroduced; once devastated silverswords before fencing and removal.
Axis deerAxis axisIntroduced; a growing threat to native vegetation on Maui.
Feral catFelis catusIntroduced; preys on ʻuaʻu and nēnē.
Black ratRattus rattusIntroduced; eats seeds, eggs, and chicks in native habitats.
Polynesian ratRattus exulansIntroduced by early Polynesian voyagers.

Birds

Nēnē (Hawaiian goose)Branta sandvicensisNative and endemic; the state bird, reintroduced to the summit area in the mid-1900s.
ʻUaʻu (Hawaiian petrel)Pterodroma sandwichensisNative and endemic; nests in burrows on the summit cliffs and returns from sea at night.
ʻĀkohekohePalmeria doleiNative and endemic to Maui; a crested honeycreeper of the wet forest, critically endangered.
Kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill)Pseudonestor xanthophrysNative and endemic to Maui; a thick-billed honeycreeper on the brink of extinction.
ʻIʻiwiDrepanis coccineaNative and endemic; a scarlet honeycreeper with a sickle bill for probing flowers.
ʻApapaneHimatione sanguineaNative and endemic; a crimson honeycreeper common in ʻōhiʻa forest near Hosmer Grove.
Maui ʻalauahioParoreomyza montanaNative and endemic to Maui; a small yellow bird that gleans insects from bark.
Hawaiʻi ʻamakihiChlorodrepanis virensNative and endemic; a yellow-green honeycreeper somewhat tolerant of lower elevations.
Maui ʻākepaLoxops ochraceusNative and endemic to Maui; a small honeycreeper not confirmed in decades and likely extinct.
Pueo (Hawaiian short-eared owl)Asio flammeusNative; hunts by day over the grasslands and shrublands.
Kōlea (Pacific golden-plover)Pluvialis fulvaNative migrant; arrives from Alaska each autumn and winters on the slopes.
Warbling white-eyeZosterops japonicusIntroduced; now one of the most common forest birds, competing with natives.

Reptiles & amphibians

Green sea turtle (honu)Chelonia mydasNative; occasionally seen offshore along the Kīpahulu coast.
Delicate skinkLampropholis delicataIntroduced; a small skink now widespread in lowland Hawaiʻi.
Mourning geckoLepidodactylus lugubrisIntroduced long ago, likely with Polynesian voyagers.
Common house geckoHemidactylus frenatusIntroduced; chirps from buildings at Kīpahulu.
Wrinkled frogRana rugosaIntroduced; Hawaiʻi has no native amphibians, and all frogs here were brought by people.

Fish

ʻOʻopu ʻalamoʻoLentipes concolorNative and endemic; a goby that climbs waterfalls using a suction disc formed by its fins.
ʻOʻopu nōpiliSicyopterus stimpsoniNative and endemic; a waterfall-climbing goby that grazes algae in Kīpahulu streams.
ʻOʻopu nākeaAwaous stamineusNative; the largest of Hawaiʻi's stream gobies.
ʻOʻopu akupaEleotris sandwicensisNative and endemic; a predatory sleeper of the lower stream reaches.
ʻOʻopu nanihaStenogobius hawaiiensisNative and endemic; a goby of slow, lower stream sections near the sea.
Āholehole (Hawaiian flagtail)Kuhlia sandvicensisNative; a silvery fish that moves between the ocean and stream mouths.

Insects & other invertebrates

Pinao ʻula (Pacific Hawaiian damselfly)Megalagrion pacificumNative and endemic; a red damselfly of streams and seeps, one of Hawaiʻi's rare native odonates.

Species totals are the park's certified NPSpecies checklist (occurrence: present).

Climate & When to Visit

Haleakalā compresses several climates into one mountain. On a single day it can be 80°F and humid at Kīpahulu while the summit sits near freezing, and temperatures drop about 3°F for every 1,000 feet of elevation gained. The northeast trade winds drive moist air against the windward flank, building a persistent cloud band and heavy rainfall on the slopes below the summit, while a temperature inversion often caps those clouds so the summit rises into dry, clear air above.

At the top, conditions are alpine and changeable: intense ultraviolet sunlight, low humidity, frost on many nights, strong winds, and occasional winter storms that can bring freezing rain or even a dusting of snow. Kīpahulu, by contrast, is warm year-round and wet, with frequent showers and occasional heavy rain that can flood streams in minutes.

Spring
Trade winds steady and rainfall begins to ease; clear summit mornings are common and native plants flower.
Summer
The driest and most reliable season at the summit, though sunrise temperatures still hover in the 40s°F; Kīpahulu stays warm with passing showers.
Autumn
Mild and relatively settled, with increasing chances of rain late in the season; kōlea arrive from Alaska.
Winter
Kona storms can bring heavy rain, high winds, freezing summit temperatures, and occasional snow or ice that closes the summit road.

Weather hazards

Cold and wind at the summit: Sunrise temperatures are often near or below freezing with wind chill, so bring winter layers even in summer.
Altitude: At 10,000 feet, exertion is harder and altitude sickness is possible, especially if you drive up from sea level the same day.
Intense UV: Thin, dry air at the summit lets sunburn happen quickly; wear sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses.
Flash floods at Kīpahulu: Rain far upslope can send a sudden surge through ʻOheʻo Gulch, so stay out of streams when water rises or turns brown.
Fast-changing weather: Clouds can roll into the summit basin within minutes, cutting visibility for wilderness hikers.

Haleakalā Questions

When is the best time to visit Haleakalā National Park?

The park is rewarding year-round. Summer and early autumn generally offer the most dependable clear skies at the summit, while winter can bring storms, freezing temperatures, and occasional road closures. Kīpahulu is green and warm in every season but wettest in winter.

How cold is it at the summit of Haleakalā at sunrise?

Expect temperatures from the 30s to the 40s°F at sunrise, and colder with wind chill. Temperatures can dip below freezing on winter mornings, so bring a warm jacket, hat, and gloves regardless of how warm it is at the beach.

Is Haleakalā Crater really a volcanic crater?

Not in the strict sense. The summit basin was carved by erosion when two large stream valleys met near the top of the mountain; later eruptions then built cinder cones and lava flows inside it.

Where can I see the Haleakalā silversword?

Silverswords grow on cinder slopes in the summit area, including near the Puʻu ʻUlaʻula summit and along trails into the basin. They are fragile and protected, so admire them from the trail without touching.

Is Haleakalā volcano still active?

Haleakalā is considered potentially active. It has erupted at least ten times in the past thousand years, most recently sometime between about 1480 and 1600, and scientists expect it could erupt again.

What rare birds live in Haleakalā National Park?

The park protects nēnē, the ʻuaʻu or Hawaiian petrel, and native honeycreepers such as the ʻiʻiwi, ʻapapane, ʻākohekohe, and kiwikiu. The last two are critically endangered, with populations devastated by mosquito-borne avian malaria.

More parks in the Pacific Islands

← Guadalupe Mountains National Park Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park →

Sources: www.nps.gov · www.usgs.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · irmaservices.nps.gov · Official NPS site