Hike a Lava Flow

Miles of hiking trails wind through the rain forest. A prime destination is the park's nearly 20,000 acres of wilderness, where you'll find vegetation that grows nowhere else in the world. Wander past native trees such as 'ohi'a , 'olapa , and kolea , as well as the native raspberry 'akala that grows in wet flatlands along the trails. The 8.4-mile Kuapo Gap Trail descends 6,100 feet from the lush eastern corner of the Haleakala Crater to the dry, rocky coastline of southeast Maui. The Kuapo Gap is a giant crack in the wall of the crater that once spilled huge lava flows all the way to the sea.