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Haleakala National Park
PO Box 369 Hwy 378 (milemarker 11)
Makawao, HI 96768
Phone: 808-572-9306
Fax: 808-572-1304
Overview.0 Rising 10,023 feet above sea level, Maui's active, but not currently erupting, Haleakala volcano forms the eastern section of the island. Due to the elevation changes, Haleakala's ecosystems range from a subtropical climate at sea level, to lush rain forest covering the steep slopes, to the moonscape alpine desert of the "crater." The 19-square-mile bowl isn't actually a volcanic crater. After years of erosion, two valleys at the summit eventually merged, forming the 3,000-foot deep crater-like depression. Legend has named this summit "The House of the Sun," and visitors trek to the top for the splendid sunrises and sunsets.
On the eastern slope, rains and winds have carved a valley now home to a dense tropical rain forest. Kipahulu Valley, although part of the park, is closed to visitors in order to preserve the habitat of several species unique to the Hawaiian Islands, including species of endangered birds and plants. Designated a United Nations International Biosphere Reserve, this park maintains a balance between its human visitors and natural residents.
What to see and do. 0 The Kipahulu Valley divides this park into two separate outings. A visit to the summit can be extended from a day trip into a two or three day outing, while the Pools of 'Ohe'o at the base of Kipahulu Valley can be seen in a day. If you'd like to see the "crater," begin your drive up the winding, switchback filled road on the west side of the park. Your first turnoff would be Hosmer Grove. Stop in here to walk the short self-guided nature trail, which introduces you to some of the unique plants and birds along your drive. You'll also find a campground here and a picnic site beneath shady trees. Further along the drive at the Park Headquarters Visitor Center (700-ft. above sea level) you can look at silversword (a Hawaiian native plant) and perhaps see a nene (the wild Hawaiian goose). The vistor center is open from 7:30 AM to 4 PM. If you plan on camping in the wilderness, pick up your first-come, first-served permits here. You'll also be able to check the daily program of talks and ranger-led hikes. As you ascend, be sure to note the change in vegetation. After catching the marvelous views from the Leleiwi and Kalahaku Overlooks, your last stop is the Haleakala Visitor Center (1023-ft above sea level). It opens at sunrise to accommodate early birds set on seeing the sun's first rays. Several exhibits acquaint you with the area's unique geology, and rangers can advise you on hiking plans. From the Haleakala Visitor Center, you'll notice streaks of red, yellow, gray and black in the cinder, which calls attention to the mountain's volcanic origins. You can't miss the 14 cinder cones rising up to 600 feet from the "crater" floor. At Holua and Paliku campgrounds, with a permit, you may pitch a tent outside. The two cabins, along with the Kapalaoa cabin, are reserved on a lottery system up to 3 months in advance.
After you've experienced the dry, barren slopes of the "crater," an afternoon in the lush Pools of 'Ohe'o will be quite a change. Burbling waters run down the mountainside, filling small pools between waterfalls. The highlight of your hike may be the spectacular Waimoku Falls. Water tumbles 400 feet, leaving clouds of mist behind among the trees. You reach the falls via a streamside trail leading up the hill and through a bamboo forest. Along the way, feel free to splash in the cool waters. Should streams be swollen, rangers advise against swimming due to strong, unpredictable currents. Keep an eye out for the taro patches, which still grow, though long since out of use. You may also notice the remains of stone-walled gardens and temple sites. These are all reminders of the island's first inhabitants and their lives before the arrival of merchants and whalers. Along the ocean you'll find a small campground. There is no drinking water here, so pack your own. Because the two sections of the park aren't connected, you'll have to drive to the Kipahulu rather than hike down from the "crater."
Haleakala offers two campgrounds, two remote wilderness grounds and three primitive cabins. Camping is free but group camping is limited to 12 people. Throughout the park, be aware that the changes in elevation result in changes in temperature. It may be balmy near the base and quite chilly up top, so layer clothing accordingly. Check with the Maui Visitor's Bureau for privately run activities, such as coasting down from the summit on bikes. Park Headquarters Visitor Center and Haleakala Visitor Center are wheelchair-accessible.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Address: Highway 11 PO Box 52
Hawaii National Park, HI 96718
Phone: 808-985-6000
Fax: 808-967-8186
Overview.0 Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983, and geologists theorize the current eruption could last many more years. People throng here to witness the fiery stream of lava as it makes its way to the Pacific. This eruption, the island's most voluminous in recorded history, spews out 250,000 to 650,000 cubic yards of lava a day and has added over 500 acres to the island of Hawaii in the last 12 years. Not too far off shore, Loihi Seamount is also erupting at a rate that should allow it to emerge as Hawaii's youngest island in a mere 100,000 years.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park protects both Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes. The trail that leads to the summit of Mauna Loa, the most massive mountain on earth and taller than Everest, if measured from its base on the ocean floor, passes through intriguing volcanic formations and island wilderness. The trail takes three or four days of rugged mountain hiking to complete. Kilauea, by contrast, is easily accessible by car and provides a number of amenities. In addition to the fantastic and bizarre lava formations, craters, pits, and lava tubes, Kilauea's flanks shelter lush rain forests and stark volcanic deserts.
Despite the relative safety from which visitors can view the current eruption, this geologic process is far from benign. In 1990, lava flows destroyed the entire town of Kalapana. The year before, they engulfed and burned the park's visitor center and surrounded, but did not harm, 700-year-old Wahaula heiau, a native temple adjacent to the park structure.
What to see and do.0 Start your volcanic adventure at the visitor center on the rim of Kilauea Caldera, where you can view a 30-minute film that chronicles recent eruptions, island geology, and Hawaiian culture. Exhibits expand your knowledge of the forces at work in the park and their ongoing importance to native Hawaiians. The rangers here can give you updates on the current eruption, issue backcountry permits, and provide invaluable trail information. They regularly hold informative programs about local geology, history, and island culture. Once you are acquainted with the basics of the park, start out along the Crater Rim Drive for spectacular views of the caldera and access to a wide number and variety of sites.
Historic and scientific buildings in the park include the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, which is not open to the public, but which is situated near an overlook of Halemaumau Crater, legendary home of the goddess Pele. Nearby is the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum with its state-of-the-art multimedia exhibits on Hawaii's volcanology. It is open daily from 8:30 AM to 5 PM and is the best place in the park to obtain up-to-the-minute information on the current eruption. Volcano House, a privately run hotel and restaurant, rests on the site of the first "hotel" in Hawaii, a grass hut that housed visitors to Kilauea from 1846 to 1866 for $1 a night. A wooden Victorian structure replaced a second grass shack in 1877, and was moved across the road when the current hotel, which dates from the 1940s, was erected. The 1877 building is now home to the Volcano Art Center, which exhibits and sells the work of some of the island's best artists.
If you want to get closer to the action than an overlook, you can hike right through Kilauea Iki crater, or witness the regrowth of island flora along Devastation Trail. Halemaumau Trail, a six-and-a-half-mile round-trip, will take you into the heart of Kilauea Caldera. A short hike from Crater Rim Drive leads through the 400-yard-long Thurston Lava Tube, swathed in ferns at either end. For hardier hikers, the three-to-four-day trek to Mauna Loa's summit requires strenuous mountain hiking skills and should not be undertaken by beginners or anyone even remotely out of shape.
Despite its vulcanism, Kilauea teems with life. At Kipuka Puaulu, a self-guided one-mile-long loop trail takes you into a lush forest canopied by trees a hundred feet tall. In this bird sanctuary you can see native birds as well as imported species that have taken up permanent residence. Kipuka Puaulu provides a rare opportunity to see an endemic woodland environment, one that exists in Hawaii and nowhere else on earth.
Two campgrounds operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Kipuka Nene is closed from October to March to protect the nesting Nene (Hawaiian goose), Hawaii's endangered state bird. A few cabins are available at Namakani Paio in addition to campsites; contact the Volcano House for more information.
Most current eruption activity can be seen from the end of the Chain of Craters Road, truncated by lava flows in the mid-1980s. Rangers can give you the latest eruption information, or call 808-985-6000 for up-to-date recorded information.
Kalaupapa National Historical Park
PO Box 2222
Kalaupapa, HI 96742
Phone: 808-567-6802 or 808-567-6102
Fax: 808-567-6729
Overview. In 1865, the kingdom of Hawaii decided to quarantine all leprosy victims. In the following year, a settlement was established on the east side of the Kalaupapa peninsula, at Kalawao. The early patients faced strenuous conditions and food and clothing shortages. One of the people who came to help them was a Belgian priest, Father Damien. He devoted his life to improving conditions for the isolated sufferers, built simple shelters and expanded a church, and perhaps more importantly, he treated the outcasts like human beings. Today leprosy, or Hansen's Disease as it's now called, is curable, and the settlement has become a park open to visitors with some restrictions.What to see and do. These restrictions include requiring a Department of Health permit and not allowing children under 16 years to visit. You may tour the park by guided tour only; contact Damien Tours, owned and operated by a Kalaupapa resident. You can get to the island by air or private boat. You may view the park via the state park overlook, where there are interpretive panels telling the story of the colony. This does not require a permit. There are no roads into the 10,726-acre park, so you'll have to either hike, fly, or go by mule. You can hike the Pali Trail, a 2.5-mile switchback path that winds down the 1,700-foot high cliff separating Kalaupapa from the rest of the island. Besides the settlement, the tour also takes you to St. Philomena Church, built in 1873. Residents conduct your four-hour tour, so the information will be firsthand. About 100 people still live here, but no new patients are being admitted because modern medicine has made Hansen's Disease noncontagious and treatable.
Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park
Address: 73-4786 Kanalani St #14
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Phone: 808-329-6881
Fax: 808-329-2597
Overview. Located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii, this park commemorates the site of an ancient Hawaiian settlement. The park was set aside in order to preserve, interpret, and perpetuate traditional native Hawaiian culture and activities. There are hundreds of archaeological features within the park, including: Kaloko and Aimakapa fishponds, housesites, and a Hawaiian stone slide called a holua. The wetlands that exist around the fishponds provide nesting habitat for two species of endangered waterfowl--the Hawaiian stilt (ae'o) and the Hawaiian coot (alaeke'oke'o). The park is also home to unique anchialine ponds, scenic coastline, and sandy beaches. An undeveloped coastal trail runs the length of the park. What to see and do. There are two major ways to access the park. Visitors can either follow the approximately one-mile unpaved road from Hwy 19 to the Kaloko fishpond area, or they can approach the southern end of the park from Honokohau Harbor. Leashed pets are permitted. Please Note: plenty of drinking water, good hiking shoes, sunscreen, and a hat are all necessities when hiking across the 'a'a lava of this park!
Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
PO Box 129
Kona, HI 96726
Phone: 808-328-2288 or 808-328-2326
Fax: 808-328-9485
Overview.0 Before the Hawaiian King Kamehameha abandoned traditional religious practices, daily life in the islands was organized by a system of taboos, or "kapu." From not eating certain foods to not eating with certain people, the list of kapu was lengthy and complicated. Breaking kapu sometimes meant death in order to appease offended gods. On the island of Hawaii, in the southeastern Kona area, the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau ("place of refuge of Honaunau") offered sanctuary to those condemned to die. Located on a finger of lava surrounded by the sea and separated from the island by a massive wall and royal compound, refuge-seekers had to swim or canoe to safety. In the sanctuary, "kahuna" performed the rituals necessary for cleansing the offenders of their wrong-doings and reintroducing them into daily life. This park preserves the temples and includes the lava beach.
What to see and do. 0 Between outdoor activities and touring the grounds, you could spend a day here. Begin at the visitors center, where you can get information for a self-guided tour. A large mural with push-button audio presentations introduces you to the Hawaiian belief system that made this refuge so important. A 1,000-foot long mortarless lava stone wall separates the royal compound from the temple area. On the compound side, walk through reconstructions of a work shed and a canoe shed. At the canoe landing you'll find traditional koa wood canoes and fishponds. On the temple side, don't miss the authentic-looking reconstructions of temple gods. From old drawings and records, local artists carved wood logs to resemble the original massive gods protecting the refuge. One temple has been reconstructed; two others are only stone platforms. Throughout the park, you may get a glimpse of living history demonstrations of traditional island life in the late 18th century, when King Kamehameha consolidated his power and before the European influence had overwhelmed Hawaiian culture. Take a few minutes to play "konane," an ancient board game, and watch islanders in costume weave, carve, or fish.
After you've toured the two sections, explore the grounds. Take one of several trails along the lengthy beach and cliffs. A wheelchair is available at the visitors center along with maps of accessible trails. Fish, swim, or snorkel in the warm waters, or picnic on the beach. If you leave the trails to wander among the coconut trees, beware of falling coconuts. The park is open from 7 AM until 8 PM daily.
Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site
Address: PO Box 44340 62-3601 Kawaihae Rd
Kawaihae, HI 96743
Phone: 808-882-7218
Fax: 808-882-1215
Overview. On a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean from the northwestern side of the big island of Hawaii, Kamehameha I built a temple, called a "heiau," to the war god. Kamehameha was told, in 1790, that this temple would appease the god and allow him to unify the Hawaiian Islands under his sole rule. Kamehameha did defeat his rivals and unify all the Hawaiian Islands by 1810. Pu'ukohola Heiau, "Temple on the hill of the whale," was the last major religious structure built in the Hawaiian Chain. Today, only the stone foundation of the mortarless building remains.What to see and do. Both nature and history find a place in the park's 85 acres. Begin your tour at the visitor center, open from 7:30 AM to 4 PM year-round. Call ahead to see which day that week you'll be able to see a Hawaiian arts and crafts demonstration (January through September). Wear light clothing and good shoes because the trail is long, hot, and sometimes rough going. If you can't make it, check at the visitor center for alternate viewing areas, such as Spencer Park. Along the way, keep an eye out for Hawaii's many species of birds and plants. If you make a winter or spring visit, watch the ocean for whales and sharks. To help preserve the temples, and for your safety, visitors are restricted from entering them. Only Hawaiians practicing traditional religious beliefs are allowed into the Heiau. Outside, the hiking trail takes you past Pu'ukohola Heiau and the older Mailekini Heiau, through the royal courtyard Pelekane, and to the location of John Young's homestead. Young, stranded in 1790 from the fur-trading ship The Eleamora, was a British advisor to Kamehameha, and one of the very few Europeans buried in the Royal Mausoleum on Oahu. No picnicking or swimming is allowed on this site, but you can finish your visit with lunch and a swim at Spencer Beach County Park, which is within walking distance. In August the park celebrates its establishment. Call ahead for details as well as for information concerning park closings due to high winds. Guided tours for educational groups are available if you give two weeks notice.
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