Haleakala National Park - Hawaii

Established August 1, 1916

30,183 acres

Haleakala, a giant shield volcano, forms the eastern bulwark of the island of Maui. According to legend, it was here, in the awe-inspiring basin at the mountain's summit, that the demigod Maui snared the sun, releasing it only after it promised to move more slowly across the sky. Haleakala means "house of the sun"; the park encompasses the basin and portions of the volcano's flanks.

A United Nations International Biosphere Reserve, the park comprises starkly contrasting worlds of mountain and coast. The road to the summit of Haleakala rises from near sea level to 10,000 feet in 38 miles—possibly the steepest such gradient for autos in the world. Visitors ascend through several climate and vegetation zones, from humid tropical lowlands to subalpine desert. Striking plants and animals such as the Haleakala silversword and the nene may be seen in this mountain section. The summit-area depression, misnamed Haleakala Crater, formed as erosion ate away the mountain, joining two valleys. This 19-square-mile wilderness area, 2,720 feet deep, is the park's major draw.

From east of the rim, the great rain forest valley of Kipahulu drops thousands of feet down to the coast. The upper Kipahulu Valley is a protected wilderness, home to a vast profusion of flora and fauna, including some of the world's rarest birds, plants, and invertebrates. Some insects evolved in the Kipahulu Valley and live nowhere else.

Visitors reach the lower valley of Kipahulu via a sliver of parkland on Maui's southeastern coast. Dominated by intense hues—azure sea, black rock, silver waterfalls, green forest and meadow—the coastal area was first farmed in early Polynesian times, more than 1,200 years ago. Mark Twain, who traveled to Hawaii in 1866, may well have had this part of Kipahulu in mind when he wrote: "For me its balmy airs are always blowing, its summer seas flashing in the sun; the pulsing of its surfbeat is in my ear; I can see its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore."