Pa Kaoao Trail and Sliding Sands Trail, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/21/2026	0.5 miles	32 minutes	229'	1.1 mph	110.5

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/21/2026	0.6 miles	22 minutes	61'	1.8 mph	111.1

Parking: 

• Sliding Sands Trailhead (Haleakala Visitor Center)
• Sliding Sands Trailhead (Haleakala Visitor Center)
• Haleakala summit

Map:

• National Park Brochure

Directions:

• Take Pa Kaoao Trail to White Hill. Return the same way.
• Take Sliding Sands Trail for 0.3 miles. You can go further. Return the same way.

We stopped by the upper visitor center (which is closed for renovations). We did the very short Pa Kaoao Trail but had no view due to clouds.

We went up to explore the summit and back down to the visitor center for a ranger talk. We did a small portion of the Sliding Sands Trail in the few minutes we had. The ranger talk was informative, and our ranger was very enthusiastic. We tried asking him fun questions - like, what is the craziest thing you've encountered as a park ranger here. Apparently, his answer was R rated, and there were young kids in the group, so we never got to know.

Luckily the visitor center bathrooms are open, so we heated up some water in the bathroom for ramen for dinner.

Stopping by the upper visitor center (currently closed except for the bathrooms)

Mini hike up White Hill

Still in the clouds on the way up

Summit view lol

Not having much luck with views.

Back at the visitor center

Summit parking lot

There's a shelter on top where a ranger was hanging out asking questions.

Summit!

Observatories also share the summit

Looking down at the visitor center where we just were.

We explored the Sliding Sands Trail for a little bit but didn't have much time. 
Nor did we have much in terms of views.

Dinner being prepared in the bathroom.