Maui curbs crowds for its 'top of the world' sunrise view
HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii - Well before dawn each morning, throngs of tourists from around the world make their way to Maui's tallest peak, a dormant volcano, to see what Mark Twain called the "sublimest spectacle" he ever witnessed.
They drive up a long, winding road through the clouds to an otherworldly, lava-rock landscape at more than 3,000 meters. Then they bundle up and take their place for a dazzling daybreak show, watching the sun peek out from the horizon and saturate the sky with endless shades of yellow, orange and red.
Over the past year, the sunrise view from atop Haleakala - Hawaiian for House of the Sun - has been attracting over a thousand people a day. The result, officials say, was a logjam of cars spilling out of the parking lots and onto the road, creating a safety hazard, and footsteps trampling sensitive habitat.
