Haleakala Drive
 

The couple we are going to Hawaii with want to drive up Haleakala and I am extremely afraid of drives like this but do want to see the sunrise, is it worth it and any tips you can give about the actually drive itself would be appreciated. Would a suv be better than a regular car? Do we drive back down in second gear? I will conquer my fears and go but I would like to make it easier.

I did the drive about three days ago in a Chevy compact rental car. It was not a particularly challenging drive. It is a long day and quite a beautiful view.

You must do it. There is nothing at all frightening about the drive.

Also, any car will do. The sunrise may or not be spectacular depending on what's going on with the clouds. It will be very cold that time of day. I prefer to go up in the middle of the day as it's a great experience then too. The way the air changes, the smell of the eucalyptus, going through Kula, the views of the coastline between west and south maui - wonderful on the way up and down!

The road is paved and sufficiently wide. The switchbacks are long and gentle and there are no cliff hugging, nail-biting sections. But it is a long drive, and competition for parking is fierce for sunrise. You can book a trip up with one of the many companies that do sunrise on Haleakala. It would save you the driving and help to cut down on the number of cars.

A couple suggestions-

For sunrise why not book with a tour company and go on a bus or a van, so you don't have to drive it yourself? It's not like you're going to be alone once you get to the top anyway.

We went mid-day mostly because no one wanted to get up at 3:00a.m. on vacation, in order to arrive for the sunrise. It is spectacular at any time of day!

I disagree (this is only MY opinion) with some posters above. I easily get carsick and it was a hairy drive!! I was VERY glad my young-ish brother (40's) was driving instead of my dad (70's). And no way would I have wanted to drive it myself, it was bad enough being a passenger... but worth it at the top!!!

Another data point. The smaller the car, the better (and yes, you will use a lower gear coming down to keep the brakes from overheating, 2nd mostly and only occasionally 1st in our Ford Focus rental car).

I had no problem, but I like twisty roads like this. My wife on the other hand did not like the drive. She agreed it was worth it once we got to the major overlooks, but she was very anxious during the drives. And there are a few steep drop offs (although I agree the road is great, nicely paved, generally wide, and banked a good deal which makes the curves much easier).

the drive is way too early, way too freezing (and we're from the Colorado Mountains), and 3 times I've done it to see absolutely nothing but clouds. Go later, see the spectacular crater, or much later, after the bicycles are gone, and watch the sunset coming down, which is really quite nice. Going up in the pitch dark, you miss a lot of lovely scenery. (And, it can make for a cranky day if you've been up for 4 hours by 8 a.m. just to see clouds!)

Don't forget it is HIGH altitude (enough to make the sensitive feel a bit sick and light-headed) and COLD (take a jacket or layer on all your warm weather clothes).

I know I've already had my vote once here, but I can't imagine driving this road in the dark at 3 or 4 in the AM. I'm also guessing that sunrise is the most crowded time at the top?

There is a number you can call (808/572-4400) to get weather conditions at the top before you head up.

I've done this drive a couple of times during daylight, and I actually enjoy it - as crazy4Hawaiii said, for the changes in scenery along the way and the views. Size of car doesn't make much difference, but make sure you have a big enough engine to handle the climb. My last trip up, last year, was with an Olds Alero and it did just fine. I did use lower gears on parts of the descent. There are a lot of switchbacks closer to the top. The biggest obstacle will probably be on your way down, following the bikes, but I didn't find that to be too difficult (the guides move them over to the side when cars are following).

Stop for breakfast or lunch at the Kula Lodge on the way down.

I paid a tour guide company for the experience to ride a bicycle ride down Haleakala. It was fantastic. The only drawback was the slow cars we were passing.

I can't imagine being in a car and being too scared to drive down this road. There is nothing intimidating about it. Unless . . . a person has accidentally driven off a road in the past.

Enjoy yourselves. Millions of people have safely driven this road before you.

I have known people who drove to the top to see the sunrise and absolutely loved it, which I'm glad to hear. Here are some pros and cons we encountered doing the trip.

Cons, 1st:
1) The biggest challenge for me was talking my wife into getting up at 3:00am while on vacation.

2) Second biggest challenge was for me to get up at 3:00am!

3) Posters are correct about it being cold and sometimes cloudy at the top.

Pros (for us)
1) We took a bike tour which meant we had a van drive us up, and got to sleep. It's dark anyways.

2) They provided coffee, hot chocolate and pastry at the top.

3) Our bike guide was impressively knowledgeable about the constellations. The top of the mountain is one of the world's best observatories.

4) The bike ride down! Absolutely no pedaling, coasting all the way with gorgeous scenery! The van drove slowly behind us, guarding our rear. We stopped for picture taking and breakfast along the way (part of the tour)

5) People who hadn't ridden a bike in decades had absolutely no problem.

Personally, I wouldn't return to Maui without doing it all over again!

Aloha!
~ ben

We enjoyed driving up to Haleakala after a late breakfast, from the Maui Prince hotel south of Wailea. We missed the morning crowds, and had Haleakala all to ourselves in the afternoon/evening. The colors were surreal. There weren't any clouds so we had a clear view. We headed back down before it got dark and found a place to stop for dinner. A very nice peaceful day.