Road to Hana - best sites

[priya08]

So we have done our homework, booked everything, done packing for our upcoming cruise to Hawaii (Apr 27th). We have dedicated one full day to RTH on our rental car. I have a huge list of sites to visit during the road trip. We have also bought Maui Revealed book which gives us good insight of must see sites on the way.

 

I read somewhere that people sometimes spend too much time on the places at the start of Road to Hana that they are probably too late or too tired to really enjoy the much better attractions later. Now my question is what are the best attractions for a day trip to Hana so that we can make best use of the day.

 

Myself and my husband are both around 30 and he loves to hike and has a passion for photography. Thank you!

[alansfreed]

If you have the Maui Revealed book, then this information won't be new to you (that's where I got these details)... but I took their information and put it into an easier form to read. I added some of my own notes about whether or not we're planning to stop by some of these sights:

 

MM 2 – Twin Falls. Don’t bother.

MM 3 – Kaulanapueo Church

MM 6 – Trail leading to 4 falls. Cool, but long, tedious hike

MM 10 – Waikamoi Stream

MM 10 – Nearly at the end of the mile, there’s a trail on the ocean side near a telephone pole. Couple minute hike to a large waterfall – Lower Puohokamoa Falls.

MM 11 – Small parking area on far side of bridge… trail leads to Haipua’ena Falls. Short hike. Don’t continue trail to next falls.

MM 12 – Kaumahina State Wayside. Has restrooms. A half mile past MM 12, there’s a place to see Ke-anae Peninsula, but nowhere to pull off. Go ¼ mile further to pull-off to see view.

MM 13 – Punalau Falls. Cool, but long hike.

MM 14 – 4/10 of a mile past MM 14, excellent parking pull-off with great views… another pull-off 2/10ths later is better. It’s 1/10th of a mile past some old wooden benches buried in overgrown ferns. Excellent view at the benches.

MM 17 – Bridge & pull-off. Ching’s Pond… neat looking area… 75’ path.

MM 17 ½ - Stand “Halfway to Hana.” Sells snacks and whatnot. Look for pig heads behind stand.

MM 18 – Community of Wailua.

MM 19 – Wailua Valley State Wayside. Take stairs to the top, see village beneath you on ocean side.

MM 19 1/2 – Upper Waikani Falls (“Three Bears Falls”)

MM 21 – Wailua Iki waterfall. Probably skip this.

MM 22 – Pua’a Ka’a State Park. Two waterfalls, with restrooms.

MM 23 – Lava tubes

MM 24 – Hanawi Falls. Supposed to be nice.

MM 25 – Makapipip Falls. Check it out from above the bridge if it’s not dry.

MM 25 – Next to falls, take Nahiku Road 2 ½ miles. Amazing view of shoreline back to Ke’anae.

MM ?? – Nahiku Marketplace. Try pork tacos or smoked fish.

MM 31 – Kahanu Garden

MM 32 – Wai’anapanapa Black Sand Beach. Includes a freshwater cave and black sand beach (obviously)

[eltigre]

That spent too long hiking in some places & not finishing the road.

We go in Sept & this time we are driving to the 7 pools (just past Hana) & working our way back.

[debshomespun]

The 7 pools are a great place for photos. Try to get there, and skip some of the little places. Do stop at the black sand beaches, they are magnificent to look at. We enjoyed the RTH very much.

[Giantfan13]

We never even made it to Hana. We stopped at Wai’anapanapa State Park and decided to spend some extra time here, as, to us, it was just magnificent there. We walked along the lava rocks, went down to the Black Sand Beach and just sat and enjoyed watching the waves crashing into and thru many of the huge rocks and arches that are along the shoreline. We found some great shaved ice here and just sat around and enjoyed the reality of Hawaii.

 

Some of our pix of the Park

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Hawaii/Dsc00560.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Hawaii/Dsc00548.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Hawaii/Dsc00550.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Hawaii/Dsc00544.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Hawaii/Dsc00568.jpg

 

Cheers

 

Len

[alexandra cruiser]

Then drive road with full visiblity,,, also, try seeing every other site on way there and others on way back....if you have the extra time and money, stay at Hotel Hana one nite....it was just fantatic,expensive but SO worth it, the hi lite of trip....we could go a little later in AM ,after most of crowds, have a great nite and wonderful food, then leave for trip back when less busy,,, really best of both worlds...just a hint:)

[priya08]

Thank you all for your posts. Unfortunately Alexanadra we are not staying there a night (though we would love to, but maybe next time!) so thats why asking for suggestions on the best sights. There are way too many in the book and I am sure it will be impossible to enjoy them all on a day round trip. If we know a couple best ones, then we can stop there and leave the others. Thank you Alansfreed for your great list. This would really really be helpful to us :)

[Cruiser7]

I bought the Maui Revealed book as well mainly for its description of the road to Hana, but the below site also provides an excellent description.

(it actually has more photo's). The only problem is that although it provides the mile marker info, it is not arranged by mile marker. I have not tried it, but maybe you can copy and paste the info into a document to make your own guide arranged by mile marker.

 

http://www.hawaii-guide.com/index.php/maui/list/category/hana_highway_sights/?gclid=CKqs-ZW5pJ4CFcNx5QodZzdjmw

[priya08]

I bought the Maui Revealed book as well mainly for its description of the road to Hana, but the below site also provides an excellent description.

(it actually has more photo's). The only problem is that although it provides the mile marker info, it is not arranged by mile marker. I have not tried it, but maybe you can copy and paste the info into a document to make your own guide arranged by mile marker.

 

http://www.hawaii-guide.com/index.php/maui/list/category/hana_highway_sights/?gclid=CKqs-ZW5pJ4CFcNx5QodZzdjmw

 

Thank you! Pretty detailed description there :)