Just about an hour and 15 minutes away from Pittsburgh in Youngstown, Ohio, you can spend the day exploring the trails of Mill Creek Metro Park.
We picked a beautiful fall day. Since it is Youngstown, I didn’t have high hopes, but was pleasantly surprised at the unique bridges, surprise rock formations, and the old mill, Lanterman’s Mill. The park wasn’t well marked, but it was clean and safe. The terrain was easy to medium level of difficulty.
Since it was our first trip to Hawaii and therefore Maui, we had a pretty packed agenda of things we wanted to see and do. One of these was to see the sunrise at Haleakala National Park. On the day we were leaving, we did just that. After all, we could sleep on the planes, as we had a long trek back to Pennsylvania.
We didn’t hike, we drove. The hike is too long to do at that time of the day and weather changes quite a bit on the way up. Driving wasn’t bad though. It is steep, but plenty of switchbacks ease the climb.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Seeing sun, water, clouds and rock from the beautiful summit is breathtaking.
Maui, Hawai’i
Maui, Hawai’i
Tips for visiting Haleakalā National Park for Sunrise
Get there early. It gets crowded. They do limit the number of cars and have two lots at the top, but it can be hard to find a great spot to view the sunrise once everyone has arrived.
Wear layers. It gets progressively colder as you go up the mountain and while standing outside, you will want a warmer jacket or sweatshirt.
Take your time. Everyone books it out of there after the sun has risen. Take advantage of your location by staying a bit longer to take photos and investigate the unique natural habitat.
Kipa hou mai.
Why is this a road trip? They only way to get up the summit that I know of is by car or hiking. Maui is a right for a rental car as the sites to see are far apart and along windy places of rock and water. While you probably have to take a plane first, once you are there, this is a road trip you’ll want to take.