The Road to Hana
Scads of tourists make the twisting, stomach-churning drive on the spectacularly green cliffside road to Hana, on the easternmost point of the island. Go on a weekday and leave by 8am. If you pull over and let cars by, you can enjoy a leisurely drive filled with beauty at every turn. Be sure to explore the Keanae Penisula. It was here that eight people lost their lives a few winters ago when they turned their backs on the ocean and a rogue wave washed them out to sea. Respectful visits can be made to the remains of Pi‘ila-nihale Heiau, thought to be one of the largest in the state with 50-foot-tall walls, found at the Kahanu Garden (National Tropical Botanical Garden) near Hana ($10 entrance, open Monday-Friday). Allow 1 ½ hours to make the ½ mile walk over flat terrain. Tutu’s at the Hana Harbor is a safe place to grab lunch. We always pack a picnic lunch. Go to the Hasegawa General Store in downtown Hana (Hwy. 360, 808-248-7079), the town’s social center since 1910 and managed by four generations of Hasegawas. Load up on local treats like Spam musubi, Hana-blend coffee, local organic dried fruits and macadamia nuts, and fresh mangoes and pineapples (in season), all for decent prices. Then carefully carry it all down the steep trail to Hana’s Kaihalulu (Red Sand Beach), which is a small crescent of sand in a collapsed volcanic dome. In calm water, the snorkeling is fun, and you’ll often have the entire place to yourself (and perhaps a few that left their swim suits at home).
The Seven Pools (Oheo Gulch), during high season, have turned into a tourist-infested collection of crowded pools that are best seen from a distance. Save your time and hike upstream. Just ask the rangers for directions to Kipahulu Falls (and Makahiku Falls) or look for the exhibits at the ranger station at the parking lot. The first waterfall is an easy uphill walk through guava trees and assorted flora. At the iron rail adjacent to the trail, look down—way down—to the valley floor. To your left will be a spectacular falls. Then follow the lava cleft (actually a remnant of an irrigation ditch) down to the top of the falls where you can swim in a wonderful pool during periods of calm water flow). This is the waterfall where a man and his daughter were swept over the falls during a flash flood a few years ago. You may alternately walk and swim upstream to a stunning lava cave with a large swimming pool, complete with waterfall. (During low-water periods, the pool may be inaccessible unless you bring a rope ladder.) You have to return the way you went in. The second and even higher major falls is a long mile upstream. The trail takes you over two bridges into wonderful bamboo forests where the sound of the forest is amazing. Recent upgrading of the trail makes the boggy sections through the bamboo forests a delightful walk. This hike is often the only reason we drive the road to Hana! Warning: heavy rains upcountry can change the idylic stream into a raging torrent. Exercise due diligence.
Many tourists take the back road along Maui’s arid, unpopulated southern coast to complete the island loop from Hana. Your rental car company will probably be very upset with you, and they will not come and fetch you should your car break down. Along this dramatic, windswept stretch of highway, stop by the Kaupo General Store (808-248-8054; irregular hours) in the tiny village of Kaupo. Built in 1925, the wooden store is full of antiques (including a huge camera collection), and the old refrigerators are help-yourself. Sit on the porch and while away an hour or two in the perfect silence of this quiet coastline. Exercise due diligence along the often muddy, usually rough and pot-hole infested stretch at Kaupo, and do not even think about taking the road during heavy rain as the mud can be deep and slippery. SUVs have lost their axles here! Once again, your rental car company will not bail you out if you get into trouble on this lonely but beautiful stretch of road.
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