Haleakalā National Park (Wilderness Tent Permit)

Foggy and rainy hike down, but breathtaking sunrise from our tent and a clear morning. Absolutely amazing experience.

Great experience and fantastic sunrise.

This was one of the greatest experiences of my whole life.

We had an amazing trip at Paliku campsite. We were at campsite 4 which had plenty of space for the 3 of us. There was great clear water from the faucet (after heavy rains). We saw pueo, i’iwi, amakihi, and loads of nene. I would highly recommend this trip. Just beware of the altitude and volatile weather conditions. Make sure to plan ahead.

The journey to the Paliku campsite is the most unique hike I have ever done. It was an amazing experience. We anticipated the night being cold, but it was eve colder than we had thought! We woke up to an ice-covered tent (March 30), so be prepared for the cold temps!

Beautiful, other-worldly place. Everyone should bring water with them into the crater - I saw so many people walking with nothing back up Sliding Sands trail, from a far distance and with no water or snacks or extra sunscreen or anything. Please be prepared! It's not an easy trail... though it's easy to go down, it's not so easy to go back up!

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This is such a beautiful and unique park. The Rangers are so well informed and welcoming as well as provide critical advice to stay safe in the park. We tent camped at Paliku it was so beautiful and full of the sounds of birds, the site are soft with grass but it can be very wet so come prepared with waterproof gear and warm cloths of sleeping. The Nene were very interested in visiting and could be seen lots while on this far side of the volcano. The hike out to the campsite down sliding sands and out along the Eastern trails took us 4 1/2 hours with rests while the hike out through the paint pots and back up sliding sands took us 5 1/2 hours with stops. This is such a spectacularly beautiful park!

Great two nights in the crater! World class views. I enjoyed the unmaintained trials. Would recommend camping in the wilderness areas for experienced and knowledgeable hikers only. It is possible to park and do a short walk into and back out of the crater without camping overnight. Worth the trip from anywhere in the world, even if all you do is catch a sunrise from the crater rim and/or a short walk in and out after parking your car.

We had an amazing time hiking and camping in Haleakala! We parked in the Halemau'u parking lot, then used the hitchhike pick up zone to catch a ride up to the summit. We started off by hiking down the sliding sands trail that starts near the summit, hiked down 4 mi until the trail split and took the left turn to get to the Holua campground (~7.5 mi). We had Holua tent campground 1 (though it was a little tough at first to figure out which campground was which!) but luckily there was only one other camper there that night so we had most of the area to ourselves. The tent campgrounds are up a path past the cabin, and has a separate outhouse from the cabin's outhouse. The water spigot is down near the cabin though, and it's non-potable water so bring a filter/boil it before you drink it!

We enjoyed the most beautiful sunset (it was even nicer than the sunrise) and the stars at night were unreal. It definitely gets chilly up there though so wear layers and bring a good jacket! The outhouse was well stocked with toilet paper.

We hiked out and up the Halemau'u trail (~4 mi uphill) to get back to our car. Would love to go back to camp at Paliku next time and get to spend more than a day in the crater!