For your first jaw-dropping look into the crater and its cinder cones, stop at Leleiwi Overlook (8840ft), midway between the Park Headquarters Visitor Center and the summit. You can literally watch the weather form at your feet, as ever-changing clouds float in and out. From the parking lot it鈥檚 a five-minute walk (0.25 miles) across a gravel trail to the overlook.
En route you鈥檒l get a fine view of the West Maui Mountains and the flat isthmus connecting the two sides of Maui.