HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK, Maui — Sunrise at Haleakala. By most accounts it's the No. 1 thing to do when visiting Maui. It's also the No. 1 crowd-control problem for staff at the national park.

Every morning, an estimated 1,000 or more visitors stand five or six deep at the 10,000-foot mountaintop to watch the sun slowly illuminate the eastern sky in swaths of bright orange and pink. Most come in tour buses or downhill bicycle tour vans.

Those who didn't pack for the 40-degree temperatures wrap themselves in hotel blankets, beach towels or the arms of a companion.

"The Maui Visitors Bureau, the Maui Hotel Association, everybody who writes about what to do when visiting Maui, everyone promotes visiting Haleakala at sunrise. It's not something we promote ...," said park ranger Sharon Ringsven.

"Sunset is just as spectacular," she said, but the park is largely empty at that time of day.

During the two-hour sunrise crush, the three summit-area parking lots — at Pu'u 'Ula'ula (Red Hill/Summit Observatory), the Haleakala Visitor Center and Kalahaku Overlook — are filled to capacity, with rangers turning away overflow vehicles. In addition to the safety problems caused by the congestion, Ringsven said those who can't find stalls often park where they shouldn't, creating hazards that might prevent emergency vehicle access or an evacuation in case of a fire at the summit buildings.

Foot traffic also can be a problem, she said, when people who can't find a good spot at the lookouts go off trail, trampling nesting areas of dark-rumped petrels, or 'ua'u.

In response, Haleakala National Park superintendent Marilyn Parris announced an interim operations plan that will put a halt to new commercial permits for sunrise activities until a more permanent solution can be adopted.

"We just can't accommodate all parking (needed for commercial operations) without impacting the regular Hawai'i residents or people who want to drive up here on their own," Ringsven said.

TOURS, TOURS, TOURS

Forty-seven companies hold "incidental business permits" for Haleakala's Crater and Kipahulu districts, including those offering hiking, horseback, bicycle, bus and astronomy tours. Ringsven said approximately 14 of the permit holders operate at sunrise on a daily basis, and seven of those are downhill bicycle tours.

In the more than 10 years Ringsven has worked at the park, she's seen sunrise bicycle tours expand from 12 to 14 vans a day to 25 to 30 a day.

The downhill bicycle tours, which guide bicyclists from the top of the mountain down to sea level, brought nearly 91,000 clients to the summit last year, according to reports provided to the national park by the companies. Overall park attendance is about 2 million annually.

The exhilarating bike tours and sunrise at Haleakala are an attractive combination for many visitors.

"It's just one of those things, to be able to say you did it," said Rich Prestera of St. Pete Beach, Fla., bundling up against the cold. "Don't want to do it again."

Prestera, his wife, Patti, and friends John and Linda Luper are passengers aboard the Pride of America cruise ship, which docked yesterday at Kahului Harbor.

"We've watched many a sunrise and sunset in Florida," Patti Prestera said. "This is unbelievable."

Tom and Marilee McCracken of Phoenix awoke at 2 a.m. yesterday for their sunrise bike tour. "It's two things in one, and we've never done it before," Tom McCracken said.

"It was beautiful, but cold," Marilee said.

Park ranger Amy Brees was directing traffic at the visitor center parking lot where the bicycle tours start.

"It's a phenomenon. I guess if they're going to pick one time in their lives to watch the sunrise, it's Haleakala," she said.

THE FREEZE

Parris said a commercial services planning process will determine a more comprehensive plan to address sunrise congestion at the summit. In the meantime, no new or expanded commercial services will be permitted for the period from pre-dawn to two hours after sunrise.

Parris said the new plan must be consistent with the park's mission to preserve the volcano and its native ecosystems and cultural connections; allow public access to many of Haleakala's geologic, scientific, scenic and historic features; and offer opportunities for recreation, education, "inspiration" and enjoyment.

Ringsven said the plan will identify what type of services are appropriate for the park, where the activities should occur, how many should be allowed on a daily basis, and how many companies should be allowed to participate. The process won't get fully under way until mid or late 2006 and could take at least a year after that to complete, including public meetings.

Jon Thuro, founder of Maui Mountain Cruisers, which has been running downhill bike tours for 23 years, said he generally doesn't like the idea of government interfering with business activities, but agrees "it's been getting a lot more crowded" at the Haleakala summit.

He said the temporary restrictions on additional sunrise activities may put the brakes on cut-rate pricing by companies selling activities such as bike tours. He said Maui Mountain Cruisers has been unable to raise its fees to take into account higher insurance and gasoline prices.

But Thuro also said the sunrise restrictions may actually increase traffic at the summit. If the limits on additional tours keep tourists from getting seats on sightseeing buses or bike tour vans, they may drive up on their own.

"If they can't get a ride in a 15-passenger van, you may have 15 more cars going up there and they'll be turning more people away," he said.

Thuro would like to see expanded parking, but Haleakala's general management plan has determined that constructing additional parking is not an answer to the park's increasing popularity, because of the potential impact on the area's natural and cultural resources and on the visitor experience.

"Do you expand a place just to accommodate more visitors," Ringsven said, "or do you look at what's going to give visitors the best experience?"

BEYOND THE DAWN

One answer could be to divert more visitors to the sunset hours, but Ringsven said help is needed from the visitor industry "to spread the word so people can enjoy Haleakala without the crowds, and you don't have to get up at 2 in the morning."

She said the parking lots are full at other times of the day, when visitors are enjoying a more leisurely tour of various sites in the national park.

"It's not such an intense period and all the visitors aren't standing at the railing waiting for the sun to rise," Ringsven said.

Another consequence of the early morning jam is that many sunrise-watchers don't even realize they are coming to a national park, she said.

"It's 'sunrise at Haleakala.' They think it's just a mountain," Ringsven said. "Many of them come up for sunrise but very few stay up after sunrise to reap the benefits of the park, such as ranger talks and guided or self hikes."

She said they leave without lingering to absorb exhibits, interpretive signs and other activities and sights that can bestow an appreciation for Haleakala's natural wonders and cultural significance.

Yesterday, less than a half-hour after the pack of several hundred sunrise visitors broke for the parking lot to continue their tours, only six people remained outside the Haleakala Visitor Center, watching the sunlight creep silently across the crater floor.

ON THE WEB

For information on Haleakala National Park and the interim operations plan: www.nps.gov/hale

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.