Covering approximately 33,000 acres of land on the island of Maui — just 27 square miles short of equaling the entire size of Oahu — Haleakala is easily one of the most iconic landscapes you’ll find in Hawaii. The dormant volcano comprises 75 percent of Maui and is home to desert-like conditions, rainforests, and everything in between. While we’ve shared all about Haleakala in the past, we just discovered one of the mountain’s unique secrets and can’t wait to share it with you.
Rising nearly 10,000 feet towards the sky, the summit of Haleakala is unlike anywhere else in the world. Measuring in at nearly seven miles across, two miles wide and approximately 2,600 feet deep, Haleakala Crater’s volcanic landscape is sure to take your breath away in more ways than one.
There are many spots across the Aloha State that will fill you with a sense of peace and serenity, but perhaps none are as remarkable as Haleakala, a massive dormant volcano that is not only home to one of the country’s most striking national parks but is one of the quietest places on the entire planet.
Now, according to the Guinness Book of Records, an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is actually the quietest place on earth, but we think there’s something much more impressive about the stillness of our beloved Haleakala.
Sometime in the last 500 years, when Haleakala experienced its last eruption, the volcano might have blown more than 250 decibels — enough to turn living things into soup with its sound wave. Today, however, certain places on the crater floor get too quiet for technology to measure it.
Rumor has it that park managers measuring the sound sometimes can’t get a decibel reading at all — and that what they do end up measuring is the sound of metal fatigue in the recording equipment itself rather than the crater’s hushed soundscape.
If you visit for yourself, you might first notice Haleakala’s striking landscapes and start snapping your camera, but please, hold back for just a moment. Walk away from the tourists, take a deep breath, and bask in the stillness of this epic natural wonder.
Don't neglect to time your visit right, though: there's a reason Haleakala is known as the "house of the sun" and you won't want to miss the opportunity to experience one of the mountain's signature sunrises — or sunsets.
This truly is one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
Have you ever been to the summit of Haleakala in Hawaii? Did you think it was the quietest place you've ever been to? While there is no doubt that the summit of Haleakala is impressive, the highway that leads to the top is memorable on its own.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest updates and news
Thank you for subscribing!