Haleakalā National Park, located on the island of Maui, is dominated by the massive dormant shield volcano for which it is named. “Haleakalā,” meaning “House of the Sun” in Hawaiian, offers one of the most surreal landscapes on Earth, particularly at its 10,023-foot summit. Visitors often flock here in the pre-dawn hours to witness a legendary sunrise that illuminates a vast, rust-colored erosional valley filled with cinder cones, appearing more like the surface of Mars than a tropical island. This harsh alpine desert is also the exclusive home of the rare and shimmering Haleakalā silversword (‘āhinahina), a unique plant that survives in the volcanic cinder and blooms only once in its lifetime before dying.