The Mauna Kea Trail, also known as the Humuʻula Trail,"Self-Guided Tours: Humuʻula, the Mauna Kea Summit Trail"archive
. ''lonelyplanet.com''.

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

. Retrieved February 15, 2019. is a hiking route leading from the

Onizuka Center for International Astronomy The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy, also known as Hale Pōhaku, is a complex of support facilities for the telescopes and other instruments that comprise the Mauna Kea Observatory atop Mauna Kea, on Hawaii island. History A few rust ...

to the summit of

Mauna Kea Mauna Kea (, ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant Shield volcano, shield volcano on the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the List of U.S. states by elevation, highest point in Hawaii a ...

, the highest volcano on the

island of Hawaii Hawaii is the List of islands of the United States by area, largest island in the United States, located in the Hawaii, state of Hawaii, the southernmost state in the union. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcani ...

Description

The trail is a long, unmaintained dirt and

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. The term ''scree'' is ap ...

path with two short road sections, about at the beginning and about near the summit."Hiking to the Summit"
. ''ifa.hawaii.edu''. Mauna Kea Support Services / Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. Retrieved February 15, 2019.

Cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s and reflective posts mark the route above . The summit region is typically very cold, and winter storms can deposit up to of snow in January and February. Astronomical instruments are located near the summit since the atmosphere is substantially thinner at higher elevations than at sea level.

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa (, ; ) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano by both mass and volume. It was historically considered to be the largest ...

is visible on clear days from the summit area, as well as along most of the trail. The trailhead is located at the Visitor Information Station of the Onizuka Center at (). The center is accessible by car from the

Saddle Road Route 200, known locally as Saddle Road, traverses the width of the Island of Hawaii, from downtown Hilo to its junction with Hawaii Route 190 near Waimea. The road was once considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the state, wi ...

(Hawaii Route 200) and then north on the Mauna Kea Access Road. Registration is requested and a drop box is available for hikers who start before the visitor center opens. The first of the trail is on the Mauna Kea Access Road after which the trail goes left onto a dirt path. From the path consists of scree. From the area is predominantly

a'a Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or unde ...

lava flows and is not as steep. At the road forks, with one path going to

Lake Waiau Lake Waiau is a high-elevation lake located at above sea level on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaiʻi. It is arguably one of the highest lakes in the United States. After the evaporation of Ka Wai o Pele in 2018 and the short-lived lake in Hal ...

and the other fork to the summit. At , the trail intersects and follows the Mauna Kea Access Road, including two switchbacks, to the

Mauna Kea Observatories The Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) are a group of independent astronomical research facilities and large telescope observatories that are located at the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii (island), Hawaiʻi, United States. The facilities are located i ...

at . A final trail segment leads to the summit. Since the mountain is considered sacred to the

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesian ...

, a sign is posted asking visitors to not access the summit

cinder cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, volcanic cone, conical landform of loose pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are forme ...

, which is named Puʻu Wekiu. The sign reads:

References

External links

Maunakea Observatories
Institute for Astronomy,

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Mauna Kea

Global Volcanism Program The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) documents Earth's volcanoes and their eruptive history during the Quaternary Period of Earth's geologic history, with particular emphasis on volcanic activity during the Holocene Epoc ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

{{coord, 19, 47, 22, N, 155, 27, 48, W, display=title Hiking trails in Hawaii Protected areas of Hawaii (island)