Reservations being taken to watch sunrise at Haleakala
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
People crowd the summit at Haleakala National Park to watch the sunrise on July 31, 2006.
Watching the sun rise at Haleakala on Maui has become so popular, visitors will need to make a reservation to get there before dawn.
Reservations to access the summit in Haleakala National Park between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. for Feb. 1 and beyond can be placed starting today at www. recreation.gov.
Park officials say reservations can be made up to two months ahead. Cost per vehicle is $1.50. The fee is separate from the park entrance fee.
A few more reservations will be made available the day before a visit.
Vehicles will need to display a printout of their reservation on their dashboards. The person who made the reservation will be required to show a photo identification card at the entrance gate.
Officials say the reservation can only be used for the scheduled date and there are no refunds because of weather. Commercial tour vehicles are exempt from the new system.
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The pilot program was initiated for visitor and employee safety and to protect natural and cultural resources, according to the National Park Service website. Beginning next year, park officials will start developing a long term plan to manage visitor traffic at the summit during sunrise hours. ‘
The plan is slated to be implemented in late 2018 or early 2019, according to Polly Angelakis, chief of interpretation and education at Haleakala National Park.
For more information on the new reservation system, visit bit.ly/haleakalasunrisereservation.
10 responses to “Reservations being taken to watch sunrise at Haleakala”
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Ah, the joys of overpopulation.
This forces visitors to go through commercial means, I like it. People with Hawaii license should not need a reservation.
In addition to regular Park’s charges……..?
Yup, thats what it sounds like to me. Just another way the State thought up to make money? So sad that it has come to this for something that should be already incorporated in the park fee. Hey Mr. Park Ranger, if it happens to be a real bad day and the summit is socked in, are you going to give that fee back or its too bad so sad Mr. Visitor?????
It would be helpful to know what the total cost would be?, or is it too hard to be more informative??
Commercial tourists shouldn’t be exempt from all fees.
Back in ’67 we hiked basically all night from Hosmer’s Grove to the summit to watch the sunrise. We had to huddle in the old bathroom facility, unheated of course, but at least out of the wind. Coldest I’d ever been in my life up until then.
Now I think of it, a tour bus did show up before sunrise — just one though. Bet these days it’s a whole caravan.
Both sites are dead ends from this article. Who wrote it anyway, an intern?
Good spot!
Story failed to report that you can use leftover tickets from Disneyland in place of cash.