_Basic data for this section was compiled by the park staff and
submitted by Eugene J. Barton, Assistant Superintendent in charge of
Haleakala from 1949-1955. The map is in the center of the booklet._
1. _Park entrance_ (elev. 6,740') _and inn_: The park entrance, marked
by a rustic sign, is on the slope of Puu Nianiau, an ancient cinder
cone. _Nianiau_ is Hawaiian for swordfern. One quarter mile above the
entrance turn right to the Silversword Inn for meals, lunches, overnight
accommodations, color pictures, slides, and souvenirs of the park. The
inn arranges guided trips through Haleakala Crater.
2. _Ralph S. Hosmer Grove_: Across from the lodge, a paved spur road
leads to the Hosmer Grove Campground and Picnic Area.
3. _Headquarters of the Haleakala Section of Hawaii National Park_: Stop
at the Administration Building beside the road for information, permits,
cabin keys needed on crater trips, and for assistance in case of trouble
or accident. The park maintenance area is located behind the station. As
you drive toward the summit, note the small native trees and shrubs
growing along the road. This elfin forest was all but destroyed by goats
and cattle; it has recovered under National Park protection. The book,
"Plants of Hawaii National Park," and the section on plants in this
guide may help you identify the different species. These and other
publications of the Hawaii Natural History Association may be purchased
at the inn or at Park Headquarters.
4. _Leleiwi Overlook_; _Kalahaku Overlook_: At the switchback near the
9,000-foot contour, a parking space has been constructed that is
labelled LELEIWI OVERLOOK. This is above Holua and the Halemauu Trail,
so that parties can be watched as they go down Leleiwi Pali. On clear
days, the whole length of Keanae Valley can be seen through Koolau Gap.
The lateral view extends from Hana Airport across the big isthmus to
Kihei on Maalaea Bay. On afternoons, clouds roll into the gap, making
this a good place to see the Brocken Specter. One's shadowy image
appears within a circular rainbow, projected against the bank of cloud.
KALAHAKU OVERLOOK (elev. 9,325') is a remarkable view point on the
crater rim that is reached by a short spur off the main park road. It is
the site of the Old Rest House, in which travellers on foot or horseback
stayed overnight before the road was built. Silversword plants may be
seen just below the main parking area. KALAHAKU is the name of the
rugged pali forming the crater wall at this point. The name means
"meeting place of the headmen or chiefs."
5. _The Observatory_ commands a spectacular view of the crater near the
summit of Haleakala. It was erected in 1937 by the National Park Service
for your comfort and convenience. The observatory is the main objective
of most visitors to Haleakala. Besides being a welcome shelter during
inclement weather, it has a large relief map and interpretive
orientation devices. Modern rest rooms are located to the rear of the
building.
6. _White Hill, Pakaoao_ (elev. 9,865'); _start of Sliding Sands Trail_:
The rocky hill, just above the observatory, is capped with andesite, a
volcanic rock lighter in color and different in composition from the
common basaltic lava of Hawaii. The southwest slope, up which the trail
leads, is covered with Hawaiian sleeping shelters consisting of oval
stone-walled enclosures. These gave protection against the wind, fog,
and cold that is common here. They may have been used long ago by
wayfarers or by sentries and groups of warriors stationed at this
commanding site. They may also have served as ambush for professional
robbers, _aihue_, who waylaid travellers in lonely places. Refer to the
topic, "The Tradition of Kaoao" in "Haleakala Hawaiiana" for more of the
story.
7. _Red Hill, Pakaoao, Summit of Haleakala_ (original English name,
Pendulum Peak; elev. 10,025'): To drive to the summit take the paved
road, turning sharply left below the observatory parking area. Red Hill
is the highest of the three prominent recent cinder cones. Early morning
is a good time to view extended panoramas and distant seascapes, before
streaks of clouds form shelves along the sides of the mountain. But
afternoon is better for viewing the crater, as its features appear in
excellent light and color at that time. A pointer table by the road
indicates the names of islands and peaks seen. An Army radar and radio
communication station was located on Red Hill during World War II.
[Illustration: Halemauu Trail on Leleiwi Pali.]
8. _Skyline Drive_: An improved driveway to the Civil Aeronautics
Repeater Station leaves the park at the pass between Red Hill and
Kolekole. Views stretch down the vast, precipitous southwest outer slope
of Haleakala to the Lualailua Hills and a desert seashore, ten thousand
feet below. Morning will most likely yield the cloud-free views. The
Aeronautics Station is open to visitors. A parking area is just outside
the gate to the station. Kolekole is the site of television relays and a
satellite tracking station. It is a mile from the Observatory to the
summit of Kolekole. It is 1.7 miles from the Observatory at the FAA
Station. Magnetic Peak is across the road from Red Hill. A huge
curiously shaped bomb on its skyline has a silhouette that looks much
like a sitting duck.
[Illustration: Volcanic bomb on Magnetic Peak.]
9. _The Halemauu Trail_ starts from a curve on the park road at the
8,000 foot elevation. It leads down a gentle slope for eight-tenths of a
mile to the crater rim. An alternate start is on the driveway into
Hosmer Grove Campground, near Silversword Inn. Built by the National
Park Service in 1937, the trail drops with a gentle grade down the
1500-foot Leleiwi Pali to the crater floor. It suggests thrilling trails
in Glacier National Park and other rugged mainland areas as it swings
and clings to the vertical cliffs. Hike to the crater rim for
spectacular views of Windward Maui and Keanae Valley in fair weather; if
clouds are rolling up Koolau Gap in the evening, you may possibly be
greeted by the Specter of the Brocken. Silver geraniums, Hinahina, small
spherical shrubs peculiar to Haleakala, grow along the upper trail and
road. HALEMAUU, grass house, is said to be derived from one formerly
located near the head of the trail.
10. _Holua Cabin_ rests in a grassy plot at the foot of the towering,
3,000-foot Leleiwi Pali. Introduced grasses grow in the meadow near it.
The pale "moss" on the rough lava flow is _Stereocaulon_, actually a
lichen, that strange combination of an alga and a fungus growing
together to appear as one plant. This pioneer on barren new lavas is
sometimes called Hawaiian Snow. The comparatively recent flow in front
of the cabin contains lava tubes or caves. These are rough and
dangerous, and should not be entered except by especially equipped
parties. Holua Cave, above the cabin, was used as a night shelter before
the cabin was built.
11. _Silversword Loop_, a quarter-mile long, deviates from Halemauu
Trail past several clumps of silversword. Hollows and slopes of the old,
weathered, red lava flow in this area have favorable conditions for
their growth. Near the east end of the loop, the main trail passes among
many piles of stones, ahus, markers, and platforms built by the
Hawaiians. This place, known as KEAHUOKAHOLO, appears to have had
special or sacred significance. State law, as well as Hawaiian customs
and ethics, strictly forbids disturbing or damaging any of these ancient
structures.
12. _Kihapiilani Road_: From a black, cinder-covered flat, an old
Hawaiian pathway crosses the rough shoulder of the small cone on Halalii
to smoother surface between Mamane Hill and Puu Kumu. It is six to eight
feet wide and is paved with flat stones. The start, difficult to locate,
is to the right of a small, horned spattercone seen from the trail as
you look toward Hanakauhi Peak. A chief, Kihapiilani, built the trail
over Mauna Hina along the North Rim to a pond, Wai Ale, probably the
present Wai Anapanapa on the exterior slope. Refer to "The Legend of
Kihapiilani" in "Haleakala Hawaiiana" for the story.
13. _Bottomless Pit_ is a yawning black well, ten feet in diameter,
rimmed with colored lava spatter a few feet high. _Use caution
approaching its edge._ Baseless legend claims that it sinks to sea
level. Although no bottom can be seen, debris chokes the opening sixty
or seventy feet below. It is a vent, through which superheated gases
were emitted in an eruption of long ago. The rim around the throat
indicates that a little lava sputtered out with the gas. During the
flank eruptions of Mauna Loa and Kilauea similar vents exhale columns of
blue, incandescent gases at intervals. Old Hawaiians at Kaupo say that
the pit was used for disposition of umbilical cords of babies. Various
reasons are assigned to the custom, such as to make the child strong, or
to prevent its becoming a thief.
14. _Ka Moa o Pele Trail_ branches from the foot of the Sliding Sands
Trail to join the Halemauu Trail across the crater. It is a scenic route
between silverswords on Ka Moa o Pele, a red cinder cone. Flowering
plants can usually be seen from June to September. Pa Puaa o Pele,
Pele's Pig Pen, is the rim of a spatter cone, now buried, in the low
pass between Halalii and Ka Moa o Pele. Hikers from Sliding Sands to
Holua should go around the right or east side of Halalii to see the
Bottomless Pit and Pele's Paint Pot, a colorful pass just a short
distance beyond.
15. _Bubble Cave_ is a large, collapsed bubble with heavy walls. It was
blown by gases in ancient molten lava. Only a small segment collapsed in
the center of the roof, which serves as entrance and smoke-hole;
old-timers were wont to camp in this natural shelter. It was the rest
stop now supplanted by Kapalaoa Cabin.
16. _Wailuku Cabin_, outside the park, was built by the State Board of
Agriculture and Forestry for the use of hunters. Arrangements for its
use must be made at the Maui Office of the Board in Kahului. Trails to
it are not of park standards and are not recommended to sightseers.
17. _Old and New Volcanics_: Dikes that protrude as slabs of
light-colored rock from slopes of the ridge toward Hanakauhi mark part
of the ancient divide between Koolau and Kaupo Valleys, the great
erosional canyons worn into the mountain during an age of quiescence.
This divide is deeply buried inside the crater under the cinders and
flows of renewed eruptions that form the present floor. Adjacent Mauna
Hina and Namana o ke Akua, green with shrubs, grass, and scrub mamane,
are cinder cones from ancient eruptions. Puu Nole, a garish, black
youngster in the community, has only silverswords on its barren slopes.
Towards Paliku the trail is flanked by some of the most recent lava
flows, only a few hundred years old. Their source vents are visible on
the slopes of Hanakauhi and the north wall of the crater.
18. _Lauulu Trail_ is plainly visible as it zigzags up the north wall.
Although not maintained at present, it is passable and allows rugged
enthusiasts to climb the rim for views of the crater. On the outer
slopes, moist grassy plots, often fog-bound, blend into jungle that
drops to the Hana Coast, 8,000 feet below. Kalapawili Ridge extends from
the summit of Hanakauhi Mountain eastward around the head of Kipahulu
Valley to the tiny lake, Wai Anapanapa. It is readily traversable for
the good hiker.
19. _Paliku_ is very different from the desert wastes in the other parts
of the crater. Lush grass and ferns, overhanging forest trees, and a
verdant cover on a towering pali result from abundant clouds pushed by
the trade winds over the east wall. AKALA, the giant Hawaiian raspberry,
ripens abundantly back of the cabins in July. It is excellent for pie,
conserves, or dessert. Native Hawaiian trees include: MAMANE, far larger
than the scrubby growth in the crater; OHIA, with gray-green leaves and
red lehua flowers; KOLEA, with thick magnolia-like leaves four inches
long; OLAPA, with leaves that tremble in the slightest breeze, like
those of quaking aspen. The conifer above the Ranger Cabin is a
cryptomeria, a Japanese evergreen planted early in this century.
20. _Kipahulu Valley_, beyond the eastern rim, is a remote, jungle
wilderness walled in by loftiest cliffs; a no man's land, it has barely
been explored, let alone touched or altered by civilization. Look from
the cabin at Paliku across the pasture to the lowest notch in the sheer
eastern pali. For a view into Kipahulu, a good climber can follow an old
goat trail, steep and tortuous, that leads up the left side of the draw
to this notch. A chorus of bird songs rises from the primeval forest in
Kipahulu. With them you may hear complacent squeals of wild pigs that
have been undisturbed for generations.
21. _Kaupo Trail_ is a good trail that winds down Kaupo Gap, across
little meadows, through groves of small AALII trees, and under spreading
KOA trees to the park boundary which is below the 4,000-foot contour.
Wild goats may be heard on the pali or on the lavas in the gap. Kaupo
Ranch extends below the park. From the redwood water tanks, a jeep trail
descends through pastures to ranch headquarters. It is 8 miles from
Paliku to ranch headquarters, which can be hiked in a half day. Kaupo
Village on the belt road around Haleakala is 1½ miles further. The route
is interesting, but arrangements must be made in advance to be met by
car either at the ranch or the village. It is fifty miles from Central
Maui by the shortest road. Although Kaupo Trail crosses private
property, advance permission is not required to use it; but, in due
consideration, please use care to close gates and do not molest or
damage any property. _The reverse trip from Kaupo Village into the
crater is not recommended_ because of the long, arduous climb up the
unsheltered, south-facing mountain slope.
[Illustration: Paliku Cabin.]