Maunakea Summit, Sunset, and Stargazing Tour

On the Maunakea Summit and Stars tour, a guide drives you from Kona to the 13,796-foot summit for sunset, then back down to 9,000 feet for a private star show with an 11-inch Celestron telescope. The tour runs 8 to 9 hours. You will be above the cloud layer by late afternoon. At the summit, you are standing at the highest point in the state of Hawaiʻi.

Pickup and return

The tour departs from Kona between 1:30 and 3 p.m. depending on the booking date. Pickup is available at the King Kamehameha Courtyard Marriott in Kona, Queen’s MarketPlace, and Waikoloa Plaza. The return to Kona is between 9 and 10 p.m.

Picnic Dinner at the visitor center

The group stops at the Maunakea Visitor Information Station at 9,200 feet to eat and acclimate before heading to the summit. The meal is Southwest Stew or Vegetarian Chili with hot chocolate and dessert. This is also where your guide covers Hawaiian star navigation and the cultural history of the mountain.

The visitor center is the last point with reliable cell coverage before the summit. Fill your water bottle here.

Sunset viewing at the Maunakea Summit

The summit road ends at 13,796 feet among the telescope domes. By the time you arrive, the cloud layer is typically below you: a flat deck of white extending to the horizon while the sun drops through it. Temperature at the summit reaches 32 degrees F (0 degrees C). The tour provides parkas and gloves; wear layers underneath. The drive back down begins after dark.

Stargazing

After the summit, the group moves to a dark location at 9,000 feet for the star show. Your guide sets up an 11-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope for direct viewing and a Stellina digital telescope for deep-space imaging. On a clear night the Celestron shows whichever of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Moon’s craters are above the horizon. The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye from this elevation on a clear, moonless night.

During the session your guide uses the Stellina to photograph deep-space objects. Your guide sends you the images after the tour.

Maunakea Summit & Stars Give Back Experience

You can add a stop to help with conservation work at the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative.

This Give Back experience only takes place on Wednesdays and differs from the Mauna Kea Stars and Summit experience in the following ways:

• You depart 75 minutes earlier than the standard Mauna Kea Summit and Stars to make a 1 hour stop at a rare and endangered native dry forest habitat.
• Help with conservation work such as seed collection and learn how the Waikoloa Dryforest Initiative restores the native dry forest.
• The tour operator donates part of each guest’s fare to the Waikoloa Dryforest Initiative.

Maunakea summit observatories and elevation

For astronomers Hawaiʻi is one of the best places of the world to observe the stars. The 13,796-foot summit holds thirteen research telescope domes. On neighboring Mauna Loa, the volcanic landscape has been used to simulate living on other planets for months at a time.

If you like stargazing or telescopes, this tour pairs sunset on the summit of Maunakea, the highest volcano in the state, with a telescope session at 9,000 feet.

From the summit you watch the sun drop below the cloud layer, with the telescope domes around you and, on some days, snow on the ground.

MaunaKea facts and trivia 🤩

Maunakea last erupted more than 4,000 years ago and is dormant.  The MaunaKea summit is the highest point of the state of Hawaiʻi, 13.796 ft above sea level. There have even been glaciers on the volcano during colder periods!

Most of Maunakea sits below sea level. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, it rises over 10,000 m (33,000 ft), taller than Mount Everest.

Image credit for most images used on this page: Hawaii Forest & Trail.

Hawaii Forest and Trail has operated on the Big Island since 1993. They hold permits to access private and restricted land across the island, which extends what their tours can reach.They are fully certified by the Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawai’i, which means that their tours are eco-friendly, culturally educational and operate as sustainable as possible.

Knowledgeable Staff

HFT guides hold academic backgrounds in biology, geology, and Hawaiian cultural history, with field experience required.

Giving back to the community

The vision of Hawaii Forest & Trail is to share the splendor of Hawai’i and inspire a deep connection with our natural world. They donate a small amount ($1 per guest) to a fund that makes donations to non-profit organizations whose mission and work aligns with at least one of the following criteria:

• benefits the conservation of Hawaii’s native ecosystems, species and landscapes.
• promulgates the understanding and practice of Hawaiian culture and the dissemination and understanding of Hawaii’s natural and cultural history.
• promotes and facilitates an appreciation and interaction with nature, especially programs that are youth oriented.

It is the intent of the fund to give preference to entities who are based or whose work is performed in the communities where they operate tours.

Hawaii Forest & Trail - Our Story

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