The Road to Hana

Along Hana Highway
Along Hana Highway

The scenic Hana Highway runs from Kahului, Maui to Hana.  It is a 52 mile long winding, narrow road.  It has 59 bridges . . . 46 of which are single lane bridges.  

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Scene from Garden of Eden Botanical Arboretum

You must drive slowly on this road so it will take you about 2-1/2 hours to drive – this is if you don’t make any stops.  But you will want to stop.  It is one of the most beautiful drives in the country.

At the Garden of Eden Botanical Arboretum
At the Garden of Eden Botanical Arboretum

We stopped at the Garden of Eden Botanical Arboretum along the way.  Parts of Jurassic Park were filmed at this location and you can see why – it is very lush and tropical.  If we’d had more time, we would have hiked around the area a little more.

Ke'anae coastline
Ke’anae coastline

Whenever I go to Hana, I like to take the short side trip down to Ke’anae – a very small village on the coast.  The coastline is made up of a’a lava which is very rough and jagged (pahoehoe is the smooth lava).  But its gorgeous with the waves crashing against the rocks.

Ke'anae Church
Ke’anae Church
Inside Ke'anae church.
Inside Ke’anae church.
Ke'anae Church
Ke’anae Church

We made a short visit to the Ke’anae church.  We also had some fresh banana bread at a little stand along the way.  You will find lots of stands selling fresh banana bread and it was delicious.  Maralee_Park_131206_58381-Edit Maralee_Park_131206_58360-EditWe saw these birds hanging around waiting for scraps of foods.

Maralee_Park_131206_58393-EditWe made a couple more scenic stops along the way before we arrived in Hana where we had a very nice lunch at the Hana Ranch restaurant.

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Hasegawa General Store
Hasegawa General Store

Of course, we had to make a stop at the famous Hasegawa General Store.

Maralee

18 Replies to “The Road to Hana”

  1. I really need to process the photos from my last visit to Hawaii . . .

    Very nice reminder; we’ve done the RTH drive 3-4 times over the course of nearly 20 years; and I think I’ll be done with it for another 10 years or so. I like it, but I hate driving back in the dark.

    In case you are interested . . . https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vAmcqhXSGHreJjkfft6VybBrSWprMtxbVp-R1KZdKM8/preview?pli=1

    Those are from my pre-blog days, and I think all the links work . . . and yes, I was just as annoying back then.

    . . . I really should go back and reprocess the hundreds of photos . . .

    1. Thanks for your link. You had a beautiful day at Haleakala. We went up there for the sunset one evening but it was socked in with fog. I got a few photos on the way down that I’ll be posting soon. I’ve been up there at sunrise many, many moons ago. I just don’t have the desire to get up at 3:00 a.m. to drive up there anymore.

      1. I don’t think I ever had the desire to get up at 3:00, drive up a winding road to a mountain top, and watch the sun rise. A neat idea to contemplate, but not our cup of tea.

        But we do like Haleakala when it’s clear, and I love seeing the Silverswords.

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