Scenic route
Haleakalā Highway
Often called the road that climbs higher in less distance than any other on Earth — from sea level to the 10,023-foot summit of Haleakalā in about 37 miles, threading more than thirty switchbacks until the road breaks through the cloud layer to a summit floating above a sea of white.
Why drive it
Sea level to 10,000 feet, above the clouds.
The sunrise is a pilgrimage (a reservation is required for pre-dawn entry), but the daytime and sunset drives are uncrowded and just as unreal — silverswords, the Mars-red crater rim, and that moment the switchbacks rise out of the clouds. Dress for cold: it can be near freezing at the top.
States on this route
The signature stops
What to pull over for.
Plan the drive
Build your Road to the Summit trip.
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