Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The first hike you'll encounter in Polipoli is the
Waiakoa Loop Trail,
which begins
just after the hut at the hunter's check-in station. The trailhead technically doesn't begin
for 0.75 mile down the hunter access road, but unless you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle,
it's better to park at the hunter's station and walk down to the trailhead. Once you are there,
a three-mile loop with a moderate elevation change of 400 feet passes through lowland
brush and pines. The area around Waiakoa is also popular with hunters, so stay on the trail
and wear bright clothing.
Farther up the switchbacking road, just past the cattle guard (where the road turns to
dirt) is the trailhead for the
Boundary Trail,
a 4.4-mile one-way trail that descends down
to the lower fence line of Polipoli before connecting with other trails. This trail offers
sweeping views of South Maui and—since it's about 1,000 vertical feet lower than some
of the other trails—won't leave you quite as winded. This can either be done as an out-and-
back hike or combined with other trails as a loop. The shortest loop is to go up the
Lower
Waiohuli Trail,
which intersects the Boundary Trail at the 2.6-mile mark. Turning left on
the Lower Waiohuli Trail, it's 1.4 miles back uphill to the main road, and then a 2.5-mile
trek back along the dirt road to your car.
If seven miles seems too far, most of the shorter walks in Polipoli begin and end at the
campground at the end of the road. While some are only a mile long, the best hike in the
park for first-time visitors is the 5.3-mile loop trail formed by connecting the
Haleakala
Ridge Trail, Polipoli Trail, Redwood Trail,
and
Plum Trail.
This loop departs from the
parking lot by the campground and winds its way through redwoods, pines, and plum trees
which occasionally bear fruit during the summer. Bring water on the trail and pack a light
jacket in case the mists roll in. Hunters sometimes patrol these same areas, so stick to the
well-signed and established trails.
For those who are in good shape, it's possible to hike all the way from Polipoli to the
summit of Haleakala by following the 6.8-mile dirt road known as
Skyline Drive.
This
road provides a “back entrance” into Haleakala National Park that few people know about,
and even fewer actually take. If it has snowed recently on top of Haleakala and the rangers
have the main road closed down, this is an alternative way to hike into the park and be the
only person in a tropical snowstorm. Even on regular days, however, Skyline is a strenuous
hike which provides panoramic views down the southwest rift zone of Haleakala. Though
Haleakala has been dormant for more than 220 years, volcanologists claim that if (and
when) the mountain erupts again, magma would seep from the earth in the barren land-
scape that's visible from this trail.
