We took off bright and early yesterday morning to trek the Road to Hana. I had done a ton of research about this journey, and loving the water as much as we do, it was important for me to hit as many of the different beaches and waterfalls as we could. I'm not quite ready to quit my day job and become a tour guide, but I think we did pretty well.
We started on the Hana Highway at Paia, a cute little town that I wish we'd had more time to explore. It was filled with local artists, shops, and cafes. I bet it's a great place to stay when in Maui, but being at the very beginning of our journey, no one wanted to stop and explore quite yet.
I will try today to put pictures after I describe each stop below. I usually just put all of our pictures at the end, but I'll try this new format so I can describe each stop along the way.
MM 2 ~ Twin Falls
Our first stop was only two miles up the road. After a very short and easy hike filled with lots of cool bamboo and other native plants, we saw two very pretty waterfalls. Grandma and Grandpa Deppe joined us, so we were able to get a picture of them at the falls with all their grandkids. Normally, we'd unpack our lunch and stay a while at an awesome find like this one if we were on a hike back on the mainland, but we knew this was just the beginning so we had to keep moving on down the road.
MM 6.5 ~ Bamboo Forest
This one was tricky to find. Often times, seeing many cars parked along the road is a trigger that there is something good to see nearby, but parking can be tough, not all miles are marked well along the road, and entrances to some stops are barely visible or even hidden from the main road. Jack actually stumbled upon the trail at this stop, and we were so glad he did. Walking through a bamboo forest was super cool! The long, smooth bamboo stalks ranged in color from yellow to tan, brown, and a vibrant lime green. Even slight breezes blowing through made them rattle against each other, creating natural wind-chimes. After a narrow and twisty hike through the bamboo forest, we were on our way again.
MM 17 ~ Keane Peninsula
One of the many blogs I read about our trip to Hana said if you stop here, you simply must get banana bread and Hawaiian shaved ice from Aunty Sandy's. As we pulled off the main highway, it was one of the first spots we saw, and the long line proved that it would be a good stop. We ate some of the most delicious, warm banana bread we've ever had and cooled off with some amazing flavored shaved ice and homemade ice cream. We were so excited to eat that I didn't get any pictures of the goods, so you'll have to just settle for a picture of Aunty Sandy's sign.
The Keane Peninsula is a breath-taking crop of black lava formations jutting up in the Pacific Ocean. The contrast of ocean water, turned lighter turquoise by the churning of the sea, the blue sky, and these black rock formations was amazing. The spray of the salty sea water hitting your face as the waves crash is enough to make you throw your hands in the air and laugh like a school kid. The peninsula is also home to a few houses, a small community center, and a neat old church.
Luckily, we met up with everyone in our group at this stop (all of Mike's family, three cars total, started out on this journey together), so we took some family pictures here. I only have the ones of our Indiana Deppes, so hopefully my BIL, Brian, will share the rest later.
MM 18 ~ Wailua Overlook
This quick stop lead to a short flight of stairs up to a stunning view of Wailua Falls from afar. Literally every turn on the Road to Hana had some sort of water feature, be it a big waterfall, a small tricking falls, or a rushing creek. This stop let us see three large falls off in the distance, one of which was Wailua Falls, a 173 foot waterfall that was famous for being the opening scene on the show Fantasy Island. Like I said, we went chasing waterfalls and found a bunch!
MM 19 ~ Upper Waikani (the 3 Bears) Falls
Parking for this amazing view was a bear, haha! But, it was worth the stop. We saw a cool set of three falls in Oregon called the Three Sisters, but that was after a pretty long hike into the woods. These falls were simply waiting for us alongside the road. There is a possibility to hike down to the pool at the end and swim, but it looked pretty treacherous, and we didn't want to use up that much time at this stop when we could see it so clearly from the road. Totally worth the 5 minutes to look at it for sure!
MM 29 ~ Nahiku Marketplace
A cool and somewhat unexpected stop along the highway was this local marketplace. Mike and Drew got tacos (kalua pork and fish), Livy finally got her coconut water, right out of a fresh coconut from a really cool local that told us a lot of neat stuff and gave the boys a smaller coconut for free, and I got our traditional Christmas tree ornament that was made by a local artist. Right before the stop was yet another waterfall that I snapped a picture of as we drove. I swear the water features along this drive are so plentiful and soul soothing that no wonder people come here and never want to leave. But, my favorite part of the stop was the recycling bins. Now that recycling is not just near and dear to my heart but also part of my job, I love seeing things like this on our adventures.
MM 32 ~ Wai'anapanapa State Park
This state park, which is approximately 120 acres, features incredible sea caves, volcanic lava tubes, blowholes, coastal hiking trails, and a dramatic black-sand beach. The black pebbles that wear down to become the black sand contrasts against the blues of the Pacific Ocean for a breathtaking sight. We stayed about an hour exploring the sea caves and black volcanic rocks, but I wish we'd had more time to hike and enjoy more of this lovely park.
MM 34 ~ Hana and the Red Sand Beach of Kaihalulu
At mile marker 34, you officially make it to Hana. This sleepy little town is not much in terms of a stop, but I'd read about a secluded red sand beach and just had to make sure we saw it. The trail to the beach is unmarked, but I read it started at the Community Center. We noticed a little worn down path at the end of green space at the Community Center and decided to check it out. The "Dangerous Trail Ahead!" signs gave us a clue that we were in the right place. The trail was not too tough, but it was right up against a very steep drop off with no rails or even ropes to stop you from falling. I kept reminding the little boys to hug the rocks! We saw banana trees at the start of the hike and lots of amazing views of the ocean along the way. Then, as we rounded a little bend in the tail, the red sand beach came into view. It is simply incredible! The iron of the volcanic rock in this area causes the red of the sand, and the contrast of the red sand up against the turquoise of the churning waters was breathtaking. My pictures do not do it justice at all. We hiked down to the beach and swam for over an hour in this amazing space. Due to it's secluded nature, the beach is often considered a "clothing optional" beach, and we did see a few naked bodies. After reminding the kids not to stare, we took a nice long dip in the water, which was much needed after all our hikes today. It was my favorite stop on the Road to Hana for sure!
Just past Hana we came across the Wailua Falls. This waterfall is 113 feet down, right off the side of the road at a bridge, and for lack of a better way to describe it, very big. We only snapped a picture as we drove by, but we did go very slow and enjoyed yet another amazing display of nature's beauty and power.
MM 42 ~ Oheo Gulch and the Haleakala National Park
One of the things our family loves to do is visit state and national parks. So many of the national parks are remote, and we know we'll never get the chance to see them all, but on the road to Hana, we got to dip our toes in the only national park on Maui so we just had to do it. Haleakala is actually home to a volcanic summit that is said to have some amazing hikes and one of the best viewing points for some amazing sunrises. I'm pretty sure after our 12 hour adventure on the Road to Hana, we'll be skipping the summit, but we wanted to check out the national park a little bit.
The Oheo Gulch is home to a series of water falls called the Seven Sacred Pools. The Waimoku Falls has both an upper and lower section, and the lower portion flows beautifully from one large pool to the next. People used to come to the falls to cleanse themselves of their troubles and sins. Today, they are technically closed because the walls of the pools have been eroded and become insecure due to misuse. Since this was our last stop, we didn't intend to swim in the pools anyway, but we did see others ignoring the closed signs and swimming anyway. Wonder if the reverse affect of getting cleansed happens if you swim there now under the closed sign?!
MM ??? ~ The End of the Hana Highway
We decided to take the back side out of Hana after visiting the national park. Turning around meant another 3 hours of travel back through the way we'd just come. We knew this back, much less traveled road was going to be tough, but we wanted to see new scenery as we traveled back to Kahana. The road was almost always bumpy, often unpaved, much of it one way with little bridges and long stretches of road that were barely the width of one car, but it took us along the coast, around the Haleakala Crater, and gave us some spectacular views and a beautiful pink and blue sunset. We didn't get home until almost 8:30, so it truly was a twelve hour trip, but one we'll never forget.
Another cool thing we noticed along the drive were signs explaining what the native people of Hawaii called the different areas. We drove through "The Land that Kisses the Clouds," "The Land of Love Stealing Winds," and "The Land of Rain that Makes you Hide Behind Rocks." You cannot make this stuff up, people!
This morning, we booked a couple of excursions for the Big Island that we visit next week. The rest of this week will be spent enjoying time with Mike's family. Some of our group are going to snorkel at Molokini Crater later this week, so I'm sure we'll have some pictures to share then. We also still have to wear our family t-shirts out one evening, and I'm sure there will be pictures to share after that fun event. Haha! If you've made it all the way to the end of this post, thanks for reading....I know it was a long one, but with so many amazing sites on the Road to Hana, I couldn't help but share them all. Mahalo!
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