Haleakala Volcano Crater, Maui, Hawaii

haleakala national park crater maui
It's a volcanic crater, full of ash, and walking in it is discouraged. What I liked is that over 10,000 feet, you're above the clouds.

The crater at the Haleakala Volcano National Park on Maui was not made by an eruption, but by the constant erosion of the wind and rain in the time since the last eruption. Haleakala is, if you count distance from the ocean floor, taller than Mount Everest by about 600 feet. However, as you look around you as you walk in the crater, you can see the erosion happening before your eyes as every footstep kicks up some dust into the wind, and any step off the path starts a mini slide of fine volcanic sand down the valley to the sea.

You can see a list here of all the United States National Parks, with links to our stories about the ones we've visited.

We love traveling–with the right gear. You can check out a lot of the stuff we use to make all our travel much more pleasant and efficient all on one page. Click here to see it. If you purchase something from this page, Travel Past 50 will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks.

Up Your Travel Skills

Looking to book your next trip? Use these resources that are tried and tested by us.

First, to get our best travel tips, sign up for our email newsletter.

Then, be sure to start your reading with our Resources Page where we highlight all the great travel companies and products that we trust.

Travel Accessories: Check out our list of all the accessories we carry to make getting there and being there a lot easier.

Credit Cards: See our detailed post on how to choose the right travel rewards credit card for you.

Flights: Start finding the very best flight deals by subscribing to Thrifty Traveler.

Book your Hotel: Find the best prices on hotels with Booking.com.

Travel Insurance: Don't leave home without it. We recommend Allianz Travel Insurance.

See all of the gear and books we like in one place on our Amazon shop.

2 thoughts on “Haleakala Volcano Crater, Maui, Hawaii”

    • Yeah, Haleakala at the top was quite windy and chilly, probably about 20 degrees cooler than the beach. No we didn’t bike down. Evidently they don’t allow bike tours to go all the way up to the crater any more. We did see some bikers going down from about 8000 feet. But the craziest thing we saw was several motorcycle racers tearing ass up and down the winding road. Suicide junkies if you ask me.

      Reply

Leave a Comment

If you liked this post, please share it.

Thanks.