Haleakalā National Park (wilderness Tent Permit)

Haleakala was so beautiful and it's a truly amazing experience to get to camp in backcountry. The hike from summit to Paliku is downhill and not very extraneous. The hike from Paliku to Holua is not very far either. It is however quite steep to get back to parking from Holua to the parking lot. It is very helpful to use the hiker pickup to go to the summit!

Backpacking to Holua and Paliku was wonderful. It's a beautiful place. The weather cooperated and it did not rain. I do wish we had rented slightly warmer sleeping bags, but we managed. it gets a little cold at night.

Other worldly experience as we returned to camp again 25 years later! Just be prepared for rain and a hard hike out! We'll try (again) to book a cozy cabin next time!

Our 2 nights backcountry at Holua was the highlight of our trip to Maui. We were alone in the world, surrounded by the birds and the wind. Such a magical experience, would recommend to anyone. We parked at the supply trailhead and the hike was beautiful. Hiked further in the crater on our 2nd day to experience the different landscapes this crater has to offer. 5/5

We took Sliding Sands to Paliku and then Halemau'u trail to Holua, spending one night at each site. It was absolutely incredible. We hiked through so many different landscapes and everything was beautiful, but definitely requires prep for various temperatures (in January - we had ice on our bags in the morning). The routes were well marked and the map on the website aligned with what it actually was. Pit toilets at each of the campsites and at Kapalaoa cabin on the way. Perfect weather made for an easy, excellent trip.

Backpacked to Paliku which is a wonderful site. The hike in is moderate and about 10 miles from either sliding sands or Halemalu’u trailheads.
Unfortunately there were 12, 20 something young boys camping at Paliku the weekend I was there and they were loud to the point of obnoxious. Also tool my reserved site so I took another site.

Beautiful remote campground deep within Haleakala NP. The campgrounds are well spaced.

We really enjoyed camping at Holua no. 5. The hardest thing was getting information ahead of time on the water situation at the campground. So many people are out there camping every day but the rangers for Haleakala Nation Park don’t collect information or provide any useful information about water. We went out with a family of five so accurate information about water at the sites would have saved us packing that much water out there. That said, the catchment system was awesome; there was plenty of water and all of it very clear. I mentioned that we could even have just brought a Steripen for treatment.

The campsite was comfortable, grassy but there isn’t any protection from the wind like the other sites. It’ll be very cold at night with no protection from the sun during the day. That said, this was my favorite thing I’ve ever done on Maui. Other campers out there are incredible, kind and helpful. I’m just disappointed that the park service doesn’t do a better job informing campers about current conditions like the park service here in Alaska.

Awesome! So clean for a 5$ camping

Backpacking to Paliku from the summit visitors center is a beautiful hike but remember it is almost 4000 ft of elevation gain on the return. Many will choose to take the Halemalu'u trail ( the switchbacks) since the elevation at the TH is 8000 ft instead of almost 10000 ft for the summit TH.
Note that although you may select a specific campsite for your permit that the last 2 times I camped at Paliku and had site 3 reserved that other campers had already pitched their tents on that site. There is a campsite site map posted near the water source.