Happenin’
Places › Hawaii › Haleakala National Park
Haleakala National Park

Photo: UzbekistanQoppa / CC BY 4.0 · source

🌋 Volcanoes

Haleakala National Park

Pukalani, HI · Maui, Hawaii

About

Haleakala National Park crowns Maui with a 10,023-foot summit whose name means house of the sun, and watching dawn break over its vast, cinder-cone-studded crater is the park's signature ritual (a reservation is required to enter before 7 a.m.). Hike the otherworldly Sliding Sands Trail down into the basin, or drop to the Kipahulu coast for waterfalls and bamboo forest. Pack warm layers; the summit is far colder than the beach below.

Highlights

Summit sunrise over the crater (reservation required)Sliding Sands Trail into the cinder-cone basin10,023-foot Puu Ulaula summit overlookKipahulu District waterfalls and bamboo forestOutstanding high-altitude stargazing

Getting there

Haleakala Highway (Route 378), Kula, HI 96790

Related places

Yellowstone National Park Volcanoes

Yellowstone National Park

West Yellowstone, MT, WY · Greater Yellowstone

America's first national park sprawls across nearly 3,500 square miles atop an active supervolcano, packing in more than half the world's geysers alongside canyons, waterfalls, and vast wildlife-rich valleys. The Old Faithful area is the iconic heart of the park, where the famous geyser erupts on a predictable schedule and boardwalks wind through steaming, rainbow-hued thermal basins. Plan two to three days minimum, because the distances are huge and bison, elk, bears, and wolves often slow the roads to a stop.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Volcanoes

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Volcano, HI · Big Island, Hawaii

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island puts you on the slopes of two of the world's most active volcanoes, Kilauea and the massive Mauna Loa. Walk through the lush Nahuku lava tube, peer into the steaming Halemaumau crater, and follow Chain of Craters Road nearly 4,000 feet down to where old lava flows meet the sea. When Kilauea is erupting, the caldera glows red after dark.

Hot Springs National Park Volcanoes

Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs, AR · Ouachita Mountains

Hot Springs National Park threads through the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, where 47 thermal springs send roughly 700,000 gallons of 143-degree water flowing up through the Ouachita Mountains each day. Stroll Bathhouse Row, the country's largest collection of early 20th-century bathhouses, and soak the old-fashioned way inside the marble-and-tile Buckstaff or Quapaw. Protected since 1832, it predates Yellowstone as a federal reservation.

Part of these collections

Curated guides that feature Haleakala National Park.

The United States National Parks63 places

The United States National Parks

All 63 of America's national parks in one place: the geysers and canyons, glaciers and giant sequoias, coral reefs and live volcanoes the country set aside for everyone. From the Grand Canyon to the Everglades to the wilds of Alaska, this is the complete collection, each one worth building a whole trip around.