Visit Wilderness

Search for a wilderness as the destination for your next outdoor adventure.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, Minnesota

Why Visit Wilderness?

While wilderness can be appreciated from afar—through online content, television, or books—nothing compares to experiencing it firsthand. Activities like camping, hiking, or hunting allow you to fully enjoy the recreational, ecological, spiritual, and health benefits that wilderness areas offer. These areas provide “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” chances to observe wildlife, moments to renew and refresh, and the physical benefits of outdoor exercise. In many wilderness areas, you can even bring your well-behaved dog.

Learn more about the diverse ways in which we benefit from wilderness and threats wilderness areas face today.

The mother of the demigod Maui lodged a complaint with her son: the day was too short to dry her bark cloth. So Maui went to the great mountain and snared the sun's rays and held them fast with ropes.
"Give me my life," pleaded the sun.
"If you promise to crawl more slowly across the sky," said Maui.
And the sun still hangs long in the sky over the island of Maui, whose great mountain is called Haleakalā, "the House of the Sun."

Two centuries have passed since the last lava ran from Haleakalā Crater. Though dormant, the volcano is not considered extinct and, while no volcanic activity is evident today on Maui, Haleakalā may erupt again.

The national park that shares its name stretches from 10,023-foot Mount Haleakalā north and far eastward to the cascading streams and quiet pools in Kīpahulu Valley, which opens onto the sea. Within its borders you'll discover cool lava rocks, cinder cones as high as 600 feet, striking silver plants that bloom only once in their lifetime, and other rare species that grow only in this fragile ecosystem.

No roads or trails connect the Haleakalā Crater area to Kīpahulu Valley, but both are accessible by paved roads from Kahului.

Across the Wilderness of Haleakalā Crater, 36 miles of trails access a land of stark contrasts and sudden weather changes: fog, rain, and chilly breezes are common hiking companions.

Weather at high-elevations can be highly unpredictable and changes often. Cool temperatures, intense solar radiation, and rapidly moving clouds are characteristic. On overage, the temperature drops about three degrees for every 1,000 foot rise in elevation and often ranges from 50-65 degrees at higher elevations. These temperatures can also feel much colder due to wind chill and damp, overcast conditions. Lower elevation areas closer to the coast receive daytime temperatures of 70-80 degrees and nighttime temperatures of 65-75 degrees. These areas average about 187 inches of rainfall per year.

Leave No Trace

How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Haleakalā Wilderness.

Plan Ahead and Prepare
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Dispose of Waste Properly
Leave What You Find
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Respect Wildlife
Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.

Location

Maps

Digital and paper maps are critical tools for wilderness visitors. Online maps can help you plan and prepare for your visit ahead of time. You can also carry digital maps with you on your GPS unit or other handheld GPS device. Having a paper map with you in the backcountry, as well as solid orienteering skills, however, ensures that you can still route-find in the event that your electronic device fails.

Online Maps

Interactive Map of the Haleakalā Wilderness
Google Earth

Hawaii Wildernesses

Printed Maps

Fetching MyTopo from Database

USGS Store

Rules & Regulations

Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport is generally prohibited in all wilderness areas. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters.

Wilderness-Specific Regulations

Learn more about why regulations may be necessary in wilderness.

Contacts

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 94-567

Date: October 20, 1976
Acreage: 19,270 acres

(No official title, designates National Park Service wildernesses) - Public Law 94-567 (10/20/1976) To designate certain lands within units of the National Park System as wilderness; to revise the boundaries of certain of these units; and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 94-567 or special provisions for 94-567 or legislative history for 94-567.

Want to Volunteer for Wilderness?

People who volunteer their time to steward our wilderness areas are an essential part of wilderness management. Contact the following groups to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Groups are listed alphabetically by the state(s) in which the wilderness is located.