Haleakala crater in Maui
 

A must ride for anyone that visits Maui. There will be many advertisements on a 38mile downhill trip but I would recommend riding up instead. The climb is VERY long but the joy when you reach the 10,023ft mark is amazing. Although I only made it to the ~9,000ft mark observatory(It was reaching 20F otherwise I'd continue) I would still have to say that it was one of my more challenging rides.

Downhill is absolutely amazing. I was easily in the 30+mph range for 30+ miles and the turns kept me on edge.

Try it and you won't be dissapointed.

PS: Whats up with the lack of a cycling scene in Maui :( I joined a group ride of 12 and they claimed to be one of the biggest on the island :(

It's a beautiful place, but not that many roads that are ideal for rides. Besides, if you're going to Maui for a week, your time is already almost booked up. You have to go to Hana, go up Mt. Haleakala, visit the Io needle, go to Lahaina, hang on the beach, snorkel, try to surf - not much time left for biking - plus the hassle of getting your bike there. I'm sure there are other factors as well.

My wife and I are going to be climbing Mt Haleakala in October. We're going with a friend who did it last year. His wife will drive a support vehicle as the three of us climb upwards.

This is him last year reaching the summit
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...kala/Hale5.jpg

If you like to do some hiking and camping, there is a great cabin in the crater that you can rent; I believe the park service takes the reservations several months in advance. It is a bit rustic; sleeps around 6. I think the hike to the cabin was about 6 miles. Great fun.

First of all, Maui is an island, not a city. You are ON an island, not IN it.
Secondly, it's not MT. Haleakala. Just Haleakala.
Third, you don't have to do everything you possibly can in just a few days.
Just a suggestion about traffic on Maui: tourist drivers are ***holes that don't give a ***k about anybody else when they are in their g** d*** convert 'Stangs on vacation. If you plan a ride up H, go VERY early in the morning, as in you are riding through Pukalani at daybreak. Theres alot of switchbacks, twists and turns going up, many of which are blind to drivers. NOBODY is expecting to see a cyclist going up. You'll se alot of traffic coming down, because alot people go up in the middle of the night to watch the sun rise. And by 9 or 10 am, there will be a steady stream of ****ing ***k s****** going up, either hungover or half drunk.
If you rent a bike there, check it thoroughly first. It may not be in great condition.
There are other much better places to ride a bike, and much better things to do on Maui than go for a bike ride. Go to the beach, swim 200 yards past the reef, splash around alot, and be shark bait! That way you only annoying to the people at the hospital, and not the drivers in a hurry to do too much on their vacation.

Or just drive to the 9000 ft elevation, turn left into the parking lot, park at the trailhead, and hike a trail into the "crater." Take water, sunscreen, warm clothes, food, good boots, your brain. Have fun.

My hobby is cycling so that is kind of what I was looking forward to. I can swim and look at mountains here in California and Hana wasn't anything amazing to me(I'll pass and it was a long ride with many people who stop randomly and don't let you pass on the bridge).

The crater is by far the funnest thing in Maui IMHO. The needle a waste of riding time :(

You won't need the support until you get up to the point where you pay a $5 toll to go further. Seriously, I had to stop a number of times to let the cars pass because there isn't any room.

It was pretty dangerous with the wind but I would have kept going if I had more clothes. I almost made it to 10,023 :(

Too bad he didn't take any pictures of the aliens ;(

Here are some pictures of my Haleakala climb from June last year:

Haleakala Climb

It was a great experience even with a good soaking rain at the bottom and 40mph+ winds at the summit. My wife and father-and-law met me near the top with much needed food and water. Only one descending tour guide told me I was going the wrong way ("I earn my descents, tool."). Most of the others just gave me the 'hang loose' sign. Traffic going up wasn't bad and was non-existent for the descent. I met only one other rider going up and I dropped him cold. Of course, he was a bike tourist on a MTB loaded down with an assortment of panniers and bags. What a nut!

Afterwards, I rode across the island back to Wailea. Traffic was awful but a raging tailwind made it a piece of cake. 92 miles for the day.

Wow, that sounds awesome. It'll be something to talk about on our ride tomorrow.

Woah, 12 would be unheard of in Hilo. It's hard to find two cyclists to rub together here. (prefereably a female cyclist to rub together with me ;) ) Exersize and outdoor activity isn't part of the local culture here.

If you wanna get picky, Haleakala is the name of the crater area, not of the whole mountain.

So we have three votes for "stay off my volcano, ***** mother****er" and none so far for "sounds cool! be careful!" Might as well just go into Lahaina and pick up high school girls at the docks...

Nice view of Mauna Kea in the background. Traffic on Maui is insane--even worse than Oahu.

Agreed...

So, nice job! And an outstanding accomplishment. Having driven (and ridden) that road numerous times, in both dark and light, I admire what a tough effort this is. I don't know why you are getting bashed here.

What a great experience. I've ridden down the mountain several times, including way back when "Cruiser Bob" started all of this. 38 miles, barely any peddling. It's great peeling off layers as you decend, and going through so many climate zones. My next trip over, I may have to put this climb on the agenda.

Now you are going to think that Mullholland is a piece of cake!

Sheldon

It is really doable especially if you start from the bottom because the pain goes away about midway as you just keep going and enjoying the scenery.

Just be very careful with the wind, it is alot worse than I expected. Careful on the descents too, the wind can easily sidestep you over the mountain

I really wanted to do a ride up Haleakala last fall, but I ended up only having time for Oahu and the Big Island. I considered riding up Mauna Kea from Hilo, but didn't have time.

With some of the responses here, maybe its a good thing I didn't get to Maui. I thought the traffic on Oahu was terrible, and the Big Island was only slightly better. Maui being even worse is almost hard to believe. I guess there are too many tourists (I didn't help there obviously). I guess I thought because of the popularity of the downhill ride that up Haleakala would be good too, but if the road and traffic is as bad as has been said, that's too bad.

-Joel

Looks like such a great ride to do. Wish I had the time to go over there and try it myself.

Traffic isn't really that much of an issue. You will obviously encounter traffic through Hana and other touristy areas but thats what you are there for.

Doing the "touristy" ride down the mountain a while back is what got me into cycling! After the ride, I was determined to buy a bike when I got home...it brought back all the joy of riding everywhere around town as a kid!
So, I made my "recreational" bike purchase when I got home...that was going to be it, right?
And a couple of bikes later, I'm now a commuter with many many miles in the saddle.
Thank you Haleakala!

Looks like Lana'i to me.

lanai
 

yep i believe you are correct. you can see more of maui in the foreground, which means you are looking west. i you were looking toward hawaii you could not see land. however i believe you are not correct about just the crater- then entire mountain is haleakala

All the streets in Hawaii look the same too me :(, I got lost very fast