Haleakalā (sea to summit)
Climb · Maui
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part of: The highest paved roads in North Americapart of: Hairpin heaven: the most switchbacks on one climbpart of: The vertical kilometre clubpart of: Roads built as statementspart of: Roads to the telescopespart of: The mountains America races up
Haleakalā (sea to summit) is a 58.8 km cycling climb averaging 5.2% (+3087 m), rising from 8 m to 3046 m in Maui.
Widely billed as the longest paved climb on earth: 58 km from the beach at Paia to 10,023 feet, the shortest ride anywhere from sea level to 10,000. Cycle to the Sun has raced it since the 1980s, and the record hunt runs through Hesjedal and Woods to Gaimon's 2:23:36.
58.8 km · +3087 m · 5.2% avg · ~15.4% max · 8 → 3046 m · 27 hairpins
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Download GPX ↓Navigate to the foot ↗
Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 15.4% (km 23–23.4).
Road: paved throughout
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 m | 3.0% |
| 2 | 75 m | 3.9% |
| 3 | 107 m | 3.2% |
| 4 | 140 m | 6.2% |
| 5 | 210 m | 5.0% |
| 6 | 259 m | 4.5% |
| 7 | 309 m | 5.2% |
| 8 | 360 m | 4.5% |
| 9 | 401 m | 4.3% |
| 10 | 449 m | 5.0% |
| 11 | 487 m | 4.2% |
| 12 | 495 m | 0.8% |
| 13 | 499 m | 0.4% |
| 14 | 490 m | -0.8% |
| 15 | 533 m | 4.2% |
| 16 | 566 m | 3.4% |
| 17 | 622 m | 5.4% |
| 18 | 665 m | 4.6% |
| 19 | 688 m | 4.3% |
| 20 | 713 m | 2.4% |
| 21 | 744 m | 2.9% |
| 22 | 852 m | 7.7% |
| 23 | 974 m | 12.2% |
| 24 | 1085 m | 11.2% |
| 25 | 1066 m | -1.9% |
| 26 | 1119 m | 6.6% |
| 27 | 1183 m | 6.4% |
| 28 | 1247 m | 6.1% |
| 29 | 1329 m | 7.1% |
| 30 | 1359 m | 3.2% |
| 31 | 1408 m | 6.4% |
| 32 | 1486 m | 6.6% |
| 33 | 1550 m | 6.7% |
| 34 | 1625 m | 8.0% |
| 35 | 1717 m | 7.7% |
| 36 | 1788 m | 7.6% |
| 37 | 1843 m | 5.8% |
| 38 | 1870 m | 2.7% |
| 39 | 1935 m | 6.4% |
| 40 | 1995 m | 5.3% |
| 41 | 2046 m | 7.2% |
| 42 | 2104 m | 5.2% |
| 43 | 2163 m | 5.6% |
| 44 | 2213 m | 4.9% |
| 45 | 2266 m | 4.8% |
| 46 | 2318 m | 5.7% |
| 47 | 2366 m | 5.2% |
| 48 | 2417 m | 5.0% |
| 49 | 2481 m | 5.8% |
| 50 | 2536 m | 6.1% |
| 51 | 2588 m | 5.5% |
| 52 | 2650 m | 5.4% |
| 53 | 2694 m | 5.0% |
| 54 | 2754 m | 5.7% |
| 55 | 2797 m | 5.5% |
| 56 | 2867 m | 5.4% |
| 57 | 2910 m | 5.1% |
| 58 | 2978 m | 5.9% |
What it’s like to ride
There's no trick to Haleakalā, just an unbroken 5–6% that starts at the beach in Paia and doesn't relent for 58 km: call it five hours of climbing with only a few hundred yards of it not uphill. The road works up through Makawao and Kula in the green upcountry (a 10% quarter-mile just outside Makawao sets the tone), then Crater Road takes over: some thirty hairpins, many corners kicking to 8–10%. Around 5,000 ft you usually punch into the cloud band, with mist, wind, and the start of a 20–30°F drop from the coast, and above it the pasture gives way to black lava and cinder, with Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa visible across the water on a clear day. Stock up at Kula Market, because past the park entrance ($15 for a bike) the only water is at the park restrooms around 7,000 ft, whose hand dryers double as a warming station. There's no café on top, just the glass-walled observation shelter on Pu'u 'Ula'ula at 10,023 ft, and the final kick to it is another 10% ramp in air thin enough to visibly bleed your power, so save something, and carry every layer you'll want for the descent.
History
The road cyclists race up here was a Depression-era tourism project: after newspaper calls for a summit road dating back to 1903, the Territory of Hawaii began building its section from Kahului in 1929, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Public Roads broke ground on the park section in 1933, and the finished highway opened with a ceremony on February 23, 1935. Roughly 36 miles from the shore to the 10,023-foot crater rim, it is widely billed as the longest paved climb on earth and the shortest ride anywhere from sea level to 10,000 feet, which is precisely what pulls riders across the Pacific to attempt it. Maui's own race over the full ascent, Cycle to the Sun, began in the 1980s, went dormant, and was revived in 2001 by the Kalima O Maui nonprofit; Maui Cyclery's Donnie Arnoult has organized it since 2008, with winning times hovering around three hours. The climb also became a record hunt for professionals: Ryder Hesjedal rode it in 2:32:51 in January 2009, fellow Canadian Mike Woods trimmed that to 2:32:24 in December 2013, and Phil Gaimon took the Strava crown at 2:23:36 in January 2018, edging amateur Drake Deuel by 28 seconds.
Common questions
- How long and steep is Haleakalā (sea to summit)?
- Haleakalā (sea to summit) is a 58.8 km cycling climb averaging 5.2% (+3087 m), rising from 8 m to 3046 m in Maui.
- Where is Haleakalā (sea to summit) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 15.4%, between km 23 and km 23.4 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Haleakalā (sea to summit) have?
- Haleakalā (sea to summit) has 27 hairpin bends, counted from the road's map geometry (a hairpin here means at least 150 degrees of turning completed within 150 metres of road). Painted corner numbers on some climbs count gentler bends too, so the two figures can differ.
- What is the road surface like on Haleakalā (sea to summit)?
- Haleakalā (sea to summit) is paved throughout.