One of the most memorable and best backcountry camping experiences we have had is camping in the Hōlua wilderness camping area of Haleakalā National Park. With a permit from recreation.gov, you can hike down into the crater of the dormant Haleakalā volcano for one of the most unreal lifetime experiences.
Haleakalā translates to “house of the sun”, and the national park certainly boasts its viewing areas for sunrises and sunsets. Just to view the sunrise in the early hours of the day requires permits if you’re wanting to drive up to the top of the rim. However, when you are camping in the Hōlua wilderness camping area, I would argue that you get to view the sunrise from inside the crater and the best spot on the island to see the sunrise and sunset! Plus, you aren’t in an area crowded with people and cameras trying to watch and capture the sunrise and sunset.
If you enjoy backcountry camping, or if you are looking to get into backcountry camping, Haleakalā National Park is worthy of a spot on your bucket list!
If you do not want to pack your own dehydrated meals for the trek, we enjoyed stocking up on the dehydrated vegetarian chili, dehydrated hummus, and snacks from Mana Foods in Paia before our camping adventure. They also have amazing, homemade vegan baked goods for sale too. 🙂
We did this before becoming a family of three, but we can’t wait to go back and do this hike with our daughter.
Looking to visit the other National Park in Hawaii? Check out our guide to Volcanoes National Park. All of our Hawaii guides can be found here.