Hosmer Grove Campground
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- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 6All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Each campsite allows a maximum of one vehicle in designated parking spaces with one additional vehicle allowed in overflow parking. Each campsite has one picnic table and a grill (bring charcoal, no wood collecting permitted). Contained camp stoves are allowed. These campsites are for tents only – Camping trailers or pop-up campers permitted only in allowed parking spaces with reservation, which allows use of campsite picnic table and grill. . Keep reading
The use of hammocks is considered a camping style and will be permitted, but limited to trees more than 10 inches in diameter with adequate padding and within the footprint of the campsite. No more than two attachments to any single tree. Temporary slacklines will also be permitted under the same conditions as hammocks provided they do not create any other safety hazard. There are no showers or electrical outlets. There is a water station and vault toilets. Pets are not permitted in or around campsite facilities. Camping is limited to 3 nights in any 30-day period. Quiet hours are 10 pm to 8 am. Check out time is 11 am.
Recreation
Hikers will find more than 30 miles of trails that journey down into the crater for exploring its many features. There is no shade or water on the crater floor, and temperatures can vary significantly, so pack along plenty of water and sunscreen. Also, due to the soft sandy nature of the trails, plan on spending twice as much time to hike out as to hike in. A self-guided trail begins at the Hosmer Grove campground and ends at the campground. If you are a bird watcher the early dawn is great viewing of the many native birds in the area, making this a beautiful early morning hike.
Facilities
Each campsite has one picnic table and a grill (bring charcoal, no wood collecting permitted). Contained camp stoves are allowed. There are no showers or electrical outlets. There is a water station and vault toilets. . The use of hammocks is considered a camping style and will be permitted, but limited to trees more than 10 inches in diameter with adequate padding and within the footprint of the campsite. No more than two attachments to any single tree. Temporary slacklines will also be permitted under the same conditions as hammocks provided they do not create any other safety hazard.
Natural Features
Located in the Summit District of Haleakala National Park, high on the slopes of Haleakala at nearly 7000 ft in elevation. Be prepared for rain and cold weather. Nighttime temperatures can drop to near freezing in the winter. Daytime temperatures range from 50 degrees to 65 degrees F. Temperatures are comfortable in the summer, but be prepared for rain at any time. A self-guided trail begins and ends at the campground. The forest comes to life in the early dawn with the many native birds in the area, making this a beautiful early morning hike. Enjoy the sunrise at the Summit of Haleakala.
Nearby Attractions
A Visitor center is located a short distance up the summit road. Additional hiking information is available at the visitor center where you will find an array of displays with Rangers to speak with. Junior Ranger program available for families with young children. Public flush toilets are located at the visitor center. A second visitor center is located at the rim of the volcano. Grocery stores and shopping are located in Pukalani or historic Makawao town. These are at least a 45 minute drive back down the road towards the Kahului airport. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (808) 572-4400.
What the agency tells you
Entrance fees of $30 per vehicle are to be paid when entering the Park. If you own a valid National Park pass please show to our fee collectors upon entrance. These passes can be used at entrance in lieu of the $30 fee.
If you make a reservation and fail to show up or cancel the reservation, you will be charged a $20 fee.
The campground is located in the Summit District of Haleakala National Park, high on the slopes of Haleakala at nearly 7000 ft in elevation. Be prepared for rain and cold weather. Nighttime temperatures can drop to near freezing in the winter. Daytime temperatures range from 50 degrees to 65 degrees F. Temperatures are comfortable in the summer, but be prepared for rain at any time. Check in is at 2pm Check out time is 11am There are no stores in the area so make sure you come prepared with adequate food and water.
Everything else this campground posts · 1
STOP THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES. Remove plants, seeds, animals, and mud from boots, gear, and vehicles. Clean your gear before entering and leaving the recreation site. Stay on designated roads and trails, and follow local guidelines for firewood. For more information visit the National Invasive Species Information Center
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 6 · 6 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “There are no showers or electrical outlets.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 3 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- Historic site
- Scenic drives
- Stargazing
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
Full this Saturdayread 15:22 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
2 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 15:23 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 6 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Wed, Oct 21. read 15:22 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 20
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 2
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 15:23 UTC
- Kipahulu CampgroundHaleakala National Park · 0.0 mi · 19 of 42 site-nights open
- Haleakalā National Park (Wilderness Tent Permit)Haleakala National Park · 4.5 mi · 12 of 20 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:22 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
6 sites
All 6 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 6 of the 6 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Kipahulu CampgroundHaleakala National Park · 0.0 mi
Haleakalā National Park (Cabin Permits)Haleakala National Park · 0.4 mi
Wilderness CabinsHaleakala National Park · 1.3 mi
Wilderness Tent SitesHaleakala National Park · 4.5 mi
Haleakalā National Park (Wilderness Tent Permit)Haleakala National Park · 4.5 miFrom Kahului it is 28 miles of scenic drive along the Haleakala Highway 37 to 377, but the winding road makes the drive pretty slow. Allow at least 1 hour 45 minutes from Kahului to the entrance station of the Park. You can stop in Pukalani for shopping or fast food.
The agency publishes this point for 2 campgrounds; it’s likely a district office, not the campground. Use the agency’s own page for directions.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Kula, HI
Typical weather
Typical October night 48°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 43°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Hosmer Grove Campground is in Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Jill Tokuda (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 4
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The office that runs itHaleakala Wilderness AreaNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyJill N. TokudaU.S. Representative · Hawaii’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationBrian SchatzU.S. Senator · Hawaii
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMazie K. HironoU.S. Senator · Hawaii
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks the National Park Service to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up, and to post what that share is.
Subject Hold back a share of sites at Hosmer Grove Campground for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service, Haleakala National Park: I tried to camp at Hosmer Grove Campground in Hawaii and couldn’t. All 6 sites at Hosmer Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hosmer Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m asking for one specific thing: set aside a published share of the sites at Hosmer Grove Campground as first-come, first-served, and post what that share is so it can be checked. Somebody who drives up has no way in, and no way to find out whether they might have had one. Sent about Hosmer Grove Campground (Haleakala National Park, Hawaii) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Hosmer Grove Campground, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
Dear Jill N. Tokuda, I’m a constituent in Hawaii’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Hosmer Grove Campground, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii, and couldn’t. All 6 sites at Hosmer Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hosmer Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hosmer Grove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Hosmer Grove Campground (Haleakala National Park, Hawaii) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Hosmer Grove Campground, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
Dear Brian Schatz, I’m a constituent in Hawaii. I tried to camp at Hosmer Grove Campground, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii, and couldn’t. All 6 sites at Hosmer Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hosmer Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hosmer Grove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Hosmer Grove Campground (Haleakala National Park, Hawaii) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Hosmer Grove Campground, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
Dear Mazie K. Hirono, I’m a constituent in Hawaii. I tried to camp at Hosmer Grove Campground, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii, and couldn’t. All 6 sites at Hosmer Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hosmer Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hosmer Grove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Hosmer Grove Campground (Haleakala National Park, Hawaii) via campanac.com