Hosmer Grove Campground

This is my very favorite place on Maui. About 5000 feet elevation. Small campground in the Haleakala National Park. It has a well developed mature forest that has several species of Hawaiian honey creepers. The best time to see them is just when the sun peeks over the mountain. About 8 am to 10 am. The birds congregate on the small areas that the sun strikes the trees and then opens the flowers so they can eat.

Stayed here on a Saturday night in May. The campground itself wasn’t anything special, but for the price (free) you definitely can’t complain. It is just past the entrance gate to the park, just short distance down a side road. There are pit toilets, running water (sink and spigot), and a few picnic tables. The area itself is pretty small, but you can definitely cram in quite a few tents.
We arrived around 6 PM and there we just a couple spots left. A youth group claimed many of them and were pretty loud for a while, but calmed down at a reasonable hour.
We had our alarm set for 3:30 AM and planned to leave our site setup to save time in getting to the summit for sunrise. To our surprise, there was already a steady stream of cars heading up the road ahead of us. There was still some parking left though but I imagine it filled up pretty quickly.
One other note at the campground is that it is extremely wet. We setup our tent on a firm mud patch and there was a steady rain/​mist (basically you’re in a cloud) that kept everything damp. Make sure to bring sufficient rain gear to make it through your stay.

Hosmer’s Grove Campground @Haleakala National Park:
Located just below 7,000 foot level in the summit area. There is a campground and a short self-​guided nature trail. This has been our kind of rainy day little hike, just hang out and listen to birds. Eucalyptus smell is nice and soothing.
A few picnic tables and smelly bathroom at site.

Convenient campground right by the entrance of Haleakala National Park at 8,000 ft elevation.
Registration and Fee: Free camping without permit for up to 3 days on a first come first serve basis. No need for any sort of registration. When I was here in early March the campgrounds had ample space and was not crowded.
Temperature: Temperatures drop to about 40 degrees at night during winter.
Facilities: Vault toilets, running potable water, sink, and picnic area available.
Recreation: Convenient stay for sunrise and sunset viewing at the Haleakala summit which is only 15 minutes away by drive. Also wonderful if you want to stargaze at night in the park.

I went on the Wakamoi Cloud Forest Tour (occurs every Monday and Thursday for the 3 hour hike.) If you’d like the longer hike there is one on the third Sunday of every month. Most of the time you will just be observing nature. The hike itself is not very long at all. You will see species that are only native to Maui HI in the cloud forest (it is a part of their niche.) This hike also will remind people to take care of the environment so that future generations may enjoy it. Take pictures, wear comfortable worn in hiking shoes, and wear a jacket.
Tip: Call the National Park Service 808−572−4459 to get on the list for the tour one week before the day of the hike.

Hosmer Grove Campground is a drive up campground inside of Halekelaka National Park on Maui. You cannot make reservations for this campsite, just show up and set up your tent in the first come, first served spots. There is a small trail (about 1 mile) right next to the campsite. There is water (watch out, it is COLD) in the form of one water hose hookup spot and two sinks outside of the bathrooms. There are two toilet facilities, both are drop toilets. The rangers service these regularly, but they aren’t all that clean. It does get cold here at night (the elevation is somewhere around 4500ft I believe) but luckily most of the wind is blocked by the trees. There is a $ 10 fee to get into the national park for three days (free for military), but camping is free. If you are vacationing in Maui and you want to keep your trip low cost, look in to spending a couple of nights up here. Plan ahead, there are no food or gas establishments for miles. And it does get cold.