Sliding Sands

Kalu'Uoka'O'O and the Haleakala Crater

3.5 miles round trip, 900 feet elevation gain

Difficulty: Moderate due to high elevation
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Haleakala National Park entrance fee required

Although Maui is well known for its lush, tropical coast, the heart of the island atop 10,023-foot Haleakala is a barren but dazzling landscape of multihued volcanic features. The Sliding Sands Trail is the crown jewel of Haleakala National Park, leading from the massive volcano’s road-accessible summit down into a spectacular crater dotted with perfectly formed cinder cones of all colors. The consistently open nature of this trail means that hikers can travel any distance along it and have a satisfying trip; however, it’s important to note that because the trail descends into the crater, hiking further along the trail means more uphill you’ll have to handle on the return trip. High altitude may make this hike challenging for many, especially as almost everyone is coming up from sea level.

The Haleakala summit sunrise has become an extremely sought-after sight on Maui. Haleakala translates to the House of the Sun in Hawaiian in local mythology is considered to be the place where the demigod Maui lassoed the sun to slow its journey across the sky. If you wish to see the sunrise or if you wish to enter Haleakala National Park before 7 AM, you’ll need to reserve a sunrise permit at recreation.gov; be sure to do this months in advance as spots typically fill up within the day that permits become available.

Anna and I hiked the Sliding Sands Trail during a December trip to Maui. We had initially intended to do a more extended hike along the trail that day but, rushing out of our hotel at 3:30 AM on our way to see the summit sunrise, I forgot to bring a backpack containing our lunches and my camera. Thus, rather than doing a more extended hike along the Sliding Sands Trail, we only went a short way down before to see the Kalu’Uoka’O’O cinder cone before turning back.

From Kahului, we followed the Hana Highway east from town for 3 miles and then turned right at the traffic light with the Haleakala Highway (Highway 37). We followed Haleakala Highway uphill along the volcano’s lower slopes for 8 miles and then turned left to stay on the Haleakala Highway (now Highway 377) after entering the town of Pukalani. After another 6 miles, we made another left turn to stay on the Haleakala Highway (now Highway 378) after passing Kula Lodge; we followed this road as it climbed aggressively through many switchbacks for another 19 miles, passing the park entrance and ending at the Haleakala Visitor Center. There is a large parking lot here that often fills up at sunrise, but typically starts to clear out within 20 minutes of the sun coming up, so come early but not too early.

The parking lot at the visitor center had already filled when we arrived, so we ended up watching the sun rise at the Kalahaku Overlook, which was at the end of the first switchback on the way back down the mountain. The sunrise was spectacular: slowly, we watched far-off Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island catch first light before rays fell on the rim of Haleakala Crater, gradually creeping down and illuminating the colorful wonderland of cinder cones in the crater itself. However, it was also spectacularly windy and cold: while we had prepared with plenty of clothes, packing winter coats on our trip to Maui, many other visitors were clearly underdressed for the weather.

Sunrise over the Mauna Loa and the Haleakala Crater from Kalahaku Overlook

After returning to the visitor center, we began our hike along the Sliding Sands Trail. From the visitor center, we followed the sidewalk that led along the south side of the parking lot; this sidewalk ended upon meeting a second, much smaller parking area for the Sliding Sands Trail. From here, a cinder-and-ash path paralleled a road and led south around a small prominence, which served as a welcome temporary windbreak. The trail quickly diverged from the road and soon led to a saddle above the Haleakala Crater with sweeping views into the crater below. This was a good spot to stop and take stock of the landscape we were about to enter: around ten cinder cones, each quite symmetric, dotted the crater floor below, with the great ridge of Hanakauhi rising across the crater and plains of lava and ash leading to Kaupo and Koolau Gaps, which break the crater rim. The intensely blue waters of the Pacific were visible through the gaps in the crater rim.

The colors of Sliding Sands Trail at Haleakala Crater

Leaving the rim of the crater, the trail descended gradually into the colorful ash-covered wonderland inside the crater. We followed the trail downhill for about 1.75 miles from the rim for a short round-trip hike of just 3.5 miles, with 900 feet of elevation gain on the return. As we had limited water and food due to me forgetting my pack at our hotel, we didn’t journey all the way to the crater floor, although I would have loved to do so. We stopped at the end of a switchback above the Kalu’Uoka’O’O cinder cone; while we didn’t make it far down enough to look directly into the cone, we could clearly make out the bright red streaks inside the rounded mouth of the cone from our stopping point.

Kalu'Uoka'O'O and the Haleakala Crater

View out Koolau Gap

While the gaping hole atop Haleakala is commonly referred to as the volcano’s crater, its geologic origin is actually erosive. Haleakala initially formed as a shield volcano like Mauna Loa on Big Island; after volcanic activity began to calm down as the Hawaii Hot Spot shifted away from Maui, deep stream valleys eroded on the northern and eastern flanks of the mountain. Rifting across the island in more recent centuries reignited a newer episode of volcanism on Maui, which has created the plethora of cinder cones that dot the island; lava flows from this newer volcanism filled the deep stream valleys, forming the lava plains running through today’s Koolau and Kaupo Gaps.

The Sliding Sands Trail continues far beyond where we turned around, visiting a wonderland of cinder cones and other volcanic features. Hikers who continue along the trail will pass by the cinder cone Pu’u O Maui on their way to the cluster of cinder cones by Ka Moa o Pele and Pu’u Nuae, where the Sliding Sands Trail meets the Halemau’u Trail. Hikers looking for a more comfortable backcountry experience can spend the night in one of the multiple cabins in Haleakala Crater and see the cinder cones painted by morning and evening light; reservations are essential. Hikers who do choose to go farther should just remember that since this trail starts high and descends, you will have to deal with a potentially strenuous climb on the return trip and that this return ascent will be more difficult due to the higher elevation. The round trip from the visitor center to the loop around Ka Moa o Pele is 12 miles with 2700 feet of elevation gain.

Hikers already in the summit area should make the drive over from the visitor center to Red Hill, the highest point on Haleakala, either before or after their hike on the Sliding Sands Trail. From the very highest point of this great volcano, there were sweeping 360-degree views of Maui; additionally, there were a handful of ahinahina silversword, a unique plant endemic to Haleakala, meaning it is naturally found nowhere else in the world. The silversword grows for about 50 years in its spiky, ball-like form before it finally blooms for a single brilliant season and dies.

Ahinahina silversword near Red Hill

I didn't get to fully explore the Sliding Sands Trail at Haleakala, but I was very struck by the stark landscape, vivid colors, and fantastical shapes of the short stretch that I did get to see. If my future vacations include a return to Maui, then I will almost certainly return to Haleakala to see the stretches of the Sliding Sands Trail that I did not see on this trip.

Halemau'u Rainbow Bridge

Halemau'u Rainbow Bridge and Haleakala Crater

2.5 miles round trip, 500 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Haleakala National Park entrance fee required

As Maui’s Haleakala Volcano rises over 10000 feet from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, the lush tropical forests of its lower windward slopes transition to the barren rock and colorful cinder cones of its massive crater. The short hike along the Halemau’u Trail in Haleakala National Park to Rainbow Bridge, a spectacular ridgetop viewpoint, gives hikers a great overview of this transition zone and packs in some stunning views. The name can be slightly misleading, as there’s no arch of any sort here: Rainbow Bridge refers to a narrow stretch of ridge with views to both sides. The Halemau’u Trail extends beyond Rainbow Bridge, descending into Haleakala Crater to connect up with the Sliding Sands Trail that descends from the summit, but a traverse of the crater is likely too much for most casual hikers, who will find this easy hike to Rainbow Bridge to be sufficiently rewarding.

Anna and I hiked to Halemau’u Rainbow Bridge during a December trip to Maui. We had initially intended to do a more extended hike in Haleakala Crater that day, but after rushing out of our hotel at 3:30 AM on our way to see the summit sunrise, I realized that I had failed to bring a backpack containing our lunches and my camera. Thus, rather than doing a more extended hike along the Sliding Sands Trail, we chose to do two short excursions on the Halemau’u and the Sliding Sands Trails.

From Kahului, we followed the Hana Highway east from town for 3 miles and then turned right at the traffic light with the Haleakala Highway (Highway 37). We followed Haleakala Highway uphill along the volcano’s lower slopes for 8 miles and then turned left to stay on the Haleakala Highway (now Highway 377) after entering the town of Pukalani. After another 6 miles, we made another left turn to stay on the Haleakala Highway (now Highway 378) after passing Kula Lodge; we followed this road as it climbed aggressively through many switchbacks for another 16 miles, entering Haleakala National Park and then arriving at the Halemau’u Trailhead. The trailhead is well-marked and lies at the northeastern edge of a switchback, with a parking lot on the left side of the road. The road is extremely windy and gains a lot of elevation but it is paved the entire way; however, a few bridges along the way are only wide enough for one car so slow down to yield when approaching these bridges. Additionally, reservations are required to enter Haleakala National Park before 7 AM due to the intense popularity of the summit sunrise; if you’re not coming for the sunrise, wait until after 7 to enter the park.

The forests characteristic of the lower slopes of Haleakala had faded to brush by the time we reached the Halemau’u Trailhead, so we had good, open views of the island and the Pacific Ocean from the parking lot already. A nene- an endemic Hawaiian goose that rarely flies and inhabits the upper elevations of Haleakala- was hanging out in the parking lot, enjoying the view. From the trailhead, we followed the Halemau’u Trail from the far end of the parking lot. The trail traveled through high brush as it descended gradually while it headed northeast towards the rim of Haleakala Crater. After two-thirds of a mile hiking from the trailhead and about 200 feet of descent, we came to a junction with the trail from Hosmer Grove; we stayed right at the junction to stick to the Halemau’u Trail, which continued descending as it approached the rim of the crater.

Nene

After the junction, great views opened up to the north of the heavily forested windward side of Maui. The northeast side of the island catches moisture moving across the Pacific that stalls when it meets Haleakala: the result is over 100 inches of rainfall each year, with superlative years recording up to 400 inches of rain. As expected, there were some clouds playing with the mountains on the windward north slope of the mountain, so even though we could see many of the lush ridges on the upper slopes and the Pacific Ocean in the distance, we only caught occasional glimpses of the rainforests of Koolau Gap during rare cloud breaks.

Haleakala slopes

Lush slopes of Haleakala

About a hundred meters past the junction, the trail came to its first viewpoint of Haleakala Crater. A stunning panorama of multi-layered volcanic cliffs towering above a great sloping plain dotted with colorful cinder cones opened up. Hanakauhi, a massive peak that marked the northeast rim of the crater, rose majestically on the other side of the plain. A forested ridge jutted out below and ahead of us into the crater: we could see the Halemau’u Trail’s many switchbacks down the side of the ridge to the crater floor which, luckily, we would not have to traverse on that day. Unlike the view of the crater from further up the volcano at Red Hill, the view from the Halemau’u Trail was less barren and substantially more green: grasses covered the crater floor here, making for a lusher scene than the austere landscape of ash further up the mountain.

Hanakauhi rising over the Haleakala Crater

As we descended via switchbacks, we could feel the vegetation around us begin to transition: the brushy vegetation at the trailhead, on the leeward side of the mountain, was now being replaced by ferns and other moisture-loving plants on the windward side. After just over a mile of hiking and nearly 500 feet descent from the trailhead, we came to the Rainbow Bridge stretch of the hike, where the trail followed the narrow crest of a fin-like ridge with spectacular views off both sides. This stretch of trail was thrilling without actually being dangerous. The views of the crater rim walls on our side of the crater were more impressive here as we were essentially within the crater at that point.

Halemau'u Rainbow Bridge

While some hikers may choose to head back from here, a more natural and satisfying turnaround point is just a little further down, at the prow of the fin-like ridge. We continued following the trail, which hugged the north side of the ridge with constant spectacular views down towards Koolau Gap. About a hundred meters further along, we came to the end of the ridge, where the trail made a 360-degree turn and wrapped around to the other side of the ridge to begin its long, switchbacking descent to the crater floor. A short spur trail at this turn led to a small promontory at the very end of the ridge; we walked out to this high point, which provided the most spectacular view of the hike. Hanakauhi rose across the plains of Haleakala Crater from us, while the sloping crater floor led up towards the lava-covered heart of the volcano below Red Hill. Holua Cabin was the only visible sign of human presence here, a lone hut dwarfed by volcanic cliffs and the immensity of the shield volcano landscape around it.

Rim of Haleakala Crater

This was an incredible viewpoint from which to study the ecological transition zones on Haleakala: a natural textbook was open before us. To the right of the view, we could see the alpine summit of Haleakala, where winters are cold, snow falls occasionally, and the ground is dominated by ash from the cinder cones. The Pu’u O Maui and Ka Moa o Pele cinder cones were among the most prominent with their high and agreeably asymmetric forms. From the cinder cones, black lava flows led downslope: the upper stretches of the lava flows looked entirely desolate, but at a certain point grasses began appearing and then shrubs. As the crater opened into Koolau Gap, the bushes gradually transitioned into rain forest. The lower slopes of the volcano were not visible below the clouds, but we would experience it as a waterfall-dotted rainforest later on our drive to Hana.

Looking up the Haleakala Crater to the cinder cones

Hiking the first stretch of the Halemau’u Trail was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and a must-do on Maui. I’ll certainly have to return to Haleakala to visit the spectacular crater floor in the future.

Pipiwai Trail

Bamboo forest on the Pipiwai Trail

4 miles round trip, 800 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate
Access: Narrow, winding paved road to trailhead, Haleakala National Park entrance fee required

The Pipiwai Trail delves through the rainforest and bamboo groves of the Kipahulu District of Maui's Haleakala National Park to reach two high waterfalls. Although it is at what is perhaps the most remote corner of Maui, about as far away as you can get from the services at Kahului, this hike is extremely popular. Tourists come to see the lush tropical environs on the trail, which cannot be seen anywhere in the mainland United States. It's certainly a lovely and interesting hike; but if you choose to do it, you may want to time it to avoid the worst of the crowds.

While the hike was nice, I must say that it failed to live up to my expectations. The Pipiwai Trail is extremely crowded now as its one of the primary activities for tourists driving the Road to Hana. This meant parking in a massive lot and constantly passing other tourists over the short course of this hike. The waterfall views on this hike left a little to be desired and the hike itself was warm and humid with plenty of mosquitoes. However, the lushness of this hike was still quite enjoyable. While some visitors do this hike on the same day that they attempt the full length of the Road to Hana, I suggest that you stay overnight in Hana for a night (or preferably two) so that you can explore the Kipahulu coast and the Pipiwai Trail at a more leisurely pace and drive slowly on the region's ridiculously narrow and windy roads.

To reach the trailhead for the Pipiwai Trail from Kahului, the principal town on Maui, we had to first drive the Road to Hana. A couple notes about the Road to Hana: it's certainly more challenging than a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway or a similar scenic parkway on the mainland, but it's also certainly not impossible to drive. Understand that the road was designed by engineers who expected the road to receive far less traffic than it receives today. There are clearly defined lanes for each direction for most of the route, although the lanes are often quite narrow and every bridge along the road is a single-lane affair where cars must yield. This may not sound too bad, but there are 59 bridges along the way along with over 600 curves. From Hana to Kipahulu, the road was particularly narrow and windy. As long as you take your time and drive safely and slowly, you'll be fine. There are plenty of coastal views and waterfalls worth stopping at along the way, although we did not find the Road to Hana to be nearly as scenic (or difficult to drive) as the Kahekili Highway on Maui's northwest coast. 

From Hana, we took the Hana Highway south for 10 miles to the Kipahulu Visitor Center. It was clear that Kipahulu was becoming increasingly popular with Maui tourists: in addition to the main, paved parking lot, which already had room for about a hundred cars, a grassy field nearby had been converted to an even larger overflow parking lot.

We started the hike at the Kipahulu Visitor Center. From here, we took the path heading off to the left, which quickly came to an intersection where the Pipiwai Trail branched off from the loop trail for the Pools of Oheo. Here, we took the left fork again for the Pipiwai Trail. We passed by a reconstructed hale halawai, a structure used as a meeting place by Native Hawaiians. The trail crossed the Hana Highway 200 meters after leaving the visitor center and then began climbing uphill along the fairly gentle shield volcano slopes of Haleakala, passing through a mix of clearings and forest. 

The mix of clearings and forest along the trail are a reminder of human history in Hawaii and human use of natural resources in the Kipahulu area. Native Hawaiians once relied on a land division system known as ahupua'a that demarcated community boundaries by watershed boundaries. In this system, each ahupua'a would consist of a full watershed from its headwaters on a volcano down to where the stream meets the sea. This sort of division would give each community a cross-section of the island's resources, allowing each community to individually practice multiple different types of agriculture. Kipahulu represents one such ahupua'a and would have consisted of all the land along Palikea and Pipiwai Streams from Haleakala down to the Pools of Oheo. This land division system was eventually abandoned in the Great Mahele in 1848, when the Hawaiian government split up the ahupua'a as it moved towards a more European style of land ownership.

We came to a decent viewpoint over Mahahiku Falls at a half mile into the hike. While the scenery at this viewpoint was quite nice- the forest and cliff walls of the canyon were overwhelming lush and it was nice to look back east and catch a glimpse of the ocean- the view of the waterfall itself left much to be desired, as only the very top of this nearly 200-foot tall waterfall was visible, its lower portion obscured by vegetation growing just below the viewpoint area.

Mahahiku Falls

Lush forest and ocean from the Mahahiku Falls overlook

After leaving the Mahahiku Falls overlook, the trail delved into humid, tropical rainforest characteristic of this part of Maui, still ascending but at a gentle grade. Kipahulu and the Pipiwai Trail remain on the windward side of Haleakala, receiving around a hundred inches of rain on average each year, with rain falling on over half of the days each year; areas upslope on Haleakala may receive up to 400 inches of rain a year. Hawaii's volcanoes are responsible for the extraordinary rainfall totals on the windward side of each of the islands; highlands on Kauai average around 460 inches of rain annually. All of this rain creates exceedingly lush forests from the treeline on the volcanoes down to the sea. 

At 0.8 miles into the hike, we came to a massive banyan tree, which extended far reaching branches from its massive trunk and dropped new roots from its far-flung branches. The tree was extraordinarily impressive in size: even more impressive was the tree's rate of growth, as this particular banyan tree could be no more than 150 years old at the time of our visit. Banyan trees are an introduced species in Hawaii; a species of fig, they are native to the Indian subcontinent. The first banyan tree introduced to Maui was in 1873 in central Lahaina and has grown within a century and a half to sport a canopy that extends over an acre. This particular banyan was somewhat smaller than the one in Lahaina.

Giant banyan tree

The trail continued through the forest and remained fairly flat until we made two successive bridge crossings over Pipiwai Stream at 1.2 miles from the trailhead. The bridges gave us scenic views of the stream tumbling down pretty drops into pools amidst the lush greenery of the tropical forest. Here, we also encountered a transition in the vegetation: the first bamboo forest of the trail started immediately after we crossed the first bridge.

Waterfalls and pools along the trail

After crossing the second bridge over Pipiwai Stream, we entered a dense bamboo forest. Like the banyan tree encountered earlier, bamboo is not native to Hawaii, originating in Asia. However, these extremely fast-growing plants have found a suitable home in many parts of Hawaii and are now quite common on the islands. Although the species is not native to Hawaii, the walk through the bamboo forest with the dense, soaring green stalks surrounding the trail was quite beautiful. The trail transitioned to a boardwalk as it crossed through this stretch of bamboo forest, ascending more aggressively for a stretch before leveling out again as the trail followed Pipiwai Stream. 

Bamboo forest

The Pipiwai Trail continued through bamboo forest until it began to approach the head of a cliff-ringed basin. The trail surroundings cleared up a bit as we reached the end of the official, maintained trail. Here, at the trail's end, we had a nice of Waimoku Falls, an impressive, 400-foot tall drop. An unofficial trail continued from here to the very base of the falls, although the National Park Service warns against taking this unmaintained trail due to the risk of falling rock. Waimoku Falls has a fairly small upstream drainage basin, so it lacks impressive flow when there has not been heavy recent rains.

Waimoku Falls

We enjoyed Waimoku Falls for a bit and then backtracked to Kipahulu, visiting the pools and waterfalls of Oheo Gulch before we returned to Hana. This was a nice spot to experience some incredibly lush rainforest and other interesting vegetation, but I was only somewhat impressed by the waterfalls along the hike and I was not certain that the long drive to this hike from Kahului would have been worth it if we hadn't been staying in Hana. Ultimately, I'd still recommend this hike if you have a week or more on Maui, but this shouldn't be a top priority for visitors with limited time.