Sliding Sands – Lower Section

The lower section of the Sliding Sands Trail (Keonehe'ehe'e) descends the steep southwest wall of Haleakala crater through a surreal cinder landscape that has been compared to the surface of Mars, where NASA tested lunar rovers in the 1960s. The trail begins at the summit visitor center at 9,740 feet and drops through loose red, black, and silvery cinder into the crater's western basin. The 'ahinahina — Haleakala silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense macrocephalum) — lines both sides of the trail: these remarkable plants evolved from a single tarweed ancestor that colonized the island about half a million years ago, developing a sunburst of silvery, wax-coated leaves to survive intense UV radiation and nightly near-freezing temperatures. The silversword was reduced to fewer than 5,000 plants by the early 20th century from cattle grazing and visitor picking; recovery efforts have restored the population to roughly 60,000 individuals. Wind-sculpted Ka Moa O Pele cinder cone rises just east of the trail's lower terminus. Visibility can shift from crystal clarity to dense fog within minutes as trade-wind inversion clouds surge through Ka Lu'u o ka O'o gap. The return climb gains 800 feet at altitude over loose cinder, making poles and trekking staffs useful. A timed entry reservation is required to access the summit road before 7 a.m.