AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Matafao Peak is the highest point on Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa, rising to 653 metres (2,142 feet) above the western rim of Pago Pago Harbor. The Samoan name translates as "Spear Head," and on clear days the summit rewards the climb with a 360-degree view over the harbor, the green ridges of the island and, so legend has it, all the way to Mount Fao on distant Upolu. It is one of the country's most striking landmarks: a lone mass of hard volcanic rock that outlasted the softer landscape around it.↗↗
The peak and the slopes above it are a designated National Natural Landmark, protected not just for the panorama but for the rare plants and ecological history packed into its montane scrub. For experienced, well-prepared hikers willing to push through a steep and often cloud-wrapped ascent, Matafao offers the best high point on Tutuila and a memorable day out in the South Pacific.↗↗
A volcanic plug over the harbor
Matafao's story is written in stone. Like Rainmaker Mountain on the opposite side of Pago Pago Harbor, it is the remnant of a volcanic plug—one of five great masses of rock extruded as molten magma during the eruptions that built Tutuila. As the surrounding material eroded and collapsed, this stubborn core of hard trachyte was left standing, which is why the peak seems to spring almost sheer from the ridgeline and why it tops the island.
