Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
views. There's a three-day limit per month, with no more than two consecutive nights in
any cabin. Each cabin is rented to only one group at a time.
The cabins can be reserved up to 90 days in advance, either online or by phone
between 1pm and 3pm Monday to Friday. A photo ID is required for the permittee, and
all of those staying in the cabin must watch an 8-minute wilderness orientation video.
Even those without reservations have a shot, as cancellations sometimes occur at the
last minute. You can check for vacancies in person at the Park Headquarters Visitor
Center between 7am and 3pm. As an added boon, if you get a vacancy within three
weeks of your camping date, the cabin fee drops to $60 a day.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
HALEAKALĀ: VOLUNTEERING & TOP DAY HIKE
Melissa Chimera, Volunteer Manager at Haleakalā National Park and a local artist,
details volunteer opportunities and shares her favorite park day hike.
Volunteer Opportunities
We currently have two types of drop-in opportunities. One is an overnight service
trip in the wilderness that requires hiking and a couple of nights in our wilderness
cabins. Then there is a day trip into Haleakalā National Park to help restore native
ecosystems and endangered species.
The first type of overnight service trip is sponsored by the
Friends of Haleakalā
(
www.fnhp.org
)
; it's a totally volunteer-led and -run operation. They take up to 12 visit-
ors. Largely they work on weeding sensitive ecosystems which are habitat for
some of our endangered wildlife.
gram called Volun- teers on Vacation. They come up on the first and third Saturday
of every month. And they provide transportation into the park. They come up to do
projects for maybe three hours or so. People bring ther own lunch up here. They go
for a very short guided hike and interact with some of the park staff or alternately
the Pacific Whale Foundation staff.
Both programs include free entry into the park.
Top Day Hike
Going from the summit down Sliding Sands Trail and up Halemauʻu switchback is
probably one of my favorite hikes. It requires a little bit of coordination because the
exit point is actually well below the summit, so somebody's got to be there or else
you've got to leave a car and hitch a ride up with some other visitor. I think it's one
of the most rewarding things you can do in a single day.
