The Road to Hana

We took the scenic drive to the quaint little town of Hana and even further down to Ohe'o gulch while we were on Maui. The drive was beautiful and we had a great time in the rain forest jungle. This first pic shows how pretty the view was while we were driving. The pic also shows how windy the road was. Look closely and you can see the road as it winds along the coast. The road is only 55 miles long but takes about 3 hours to drive. There are almost 600 curves along this very narrow road. One one side you have solid rock wall and the other a major drop-off over the cliff. The speed limit is 15 miles an hour most of the way. This is not a drive for the faint of stomach.




Along with all the curves are 54 one lane very narrow bridges. Why all the bridges? Because there is so much water coming off of the mountain. Every few bends you get to see either a spectacular waterfall or an open vista with a pool or stream running through a small valley down to the ocean. Although the bridges are a bit scary since you have to stop and look to see if anyone is coming before you can cross, the views were well worth it.




Along the way there are several nice stops that you can take to rest your stomach if you get queasy with all those hairpin curves. Some of the stops take you through magnificent forests and some just give you an overlook to admire the coastline. One of our favorite stops was Wainapanapa State Park. There was a blowhole that wasn't going due to low tide, so we got a chance to look down in the blowhole. There was a black sand beach, notice the sand under Kasey's feet isn't the normal white color, and small pools, arches and other other neat formations along the shore. Truly this area of maui seemed to be personally carved by the hand of God.





The end of the road has one of the neatest hikes I have ever been on. You go into the National Park and take the trail to Waimoku Falls. Along the way we counted 9 waterfalls! There are some bridges that you cross and get to look down on waterfalls and even a giant bamboo forest. It's only about 2 miles each way and well worth it. Ady stayed back with Grandma since my mom's knees aren't up for the 2 mile hike, and had fun at the visitor center and walking around at the park.


At the end of the hike is Waimoku Falls. The water comes off of a 400 plus foot cliff! Kasey's direct quote was "Holy cow!, that's the biggest freakin waterfall I've ever saw". It's pretty big. You can see it back on the trail a little ways and even hear it before you get there. All in all the drive was totally worth it and we all wished we could have stayed there another day.