Kula · US

Haleakalā National Park

Haleakalā National Park on Maui is a place of extraordinary contrasts: a dormant 10,023-foot volcano whose vast crater holds an otherworldly landscape of cinder cones and rare silversword plants, and a lush coastal district reachable only via the winding Hana Highway, where bamboo forests, waterfalls, and terraced pools meet the Pacific. The park protects endangered species found nowhere else on Earth and remains deeply sacred to Native Hawaiians. Watching sunrise above the clouds from the summit rim is the park's signature experience—so popular that advance reservations are now required. But Haleakalā rewards far more than a single dawn: its trails range from short rim walks to full-day descents into the crater, and the Kīpahulu side offers a completely different world of tropical rainforest and ocean views.