June 4, 2021

Road to Hana a Guide to Maui, HI

How to See the Road to Hana and avoid as much of the crowds as possible

Aloha, travelers! If you’re visiting Maui, you’ll find yourself split between activities to do across the entire island. On the east side, you have the Road to Hana, Haleakalā, and lots of amazing snorkeling locations like Molokini Crater and Turtle Town. I would recommend a minimum of 3 days on this side of the island to not short yourselves on the full experience. The Road to Hana in itself is a whole day adventure and whether you want to see Haleakala at sunrise or sunset, you’re still spending a couple of hours getting up and down; not to mention all the stops to get some amazing shots of the scenery along the way.

At the time of this post (June 2021) Covid vaccination and a negative PCR Covid tests are required to avoid Hawaii’s 10-day quarantine. The test has to be taken 72 hours from the final leg of departure. Be sure to check for updates here: Hawaii’s Safe Travels program and here: Trusted Travel Test Partners.

ROAD TO HANA (full-day)

I highly suggest making sure that you carve out an entire day for the Road to Hana, leaving around 8-9 am to get back by sunset. This particular trip started at 9:30am and ended around 6pm (sunset was at 7). With the number of stops along the way, you can not do it all in a day. Pick and choose what is appealing to you (more forest, more waterfall, something else like lava caves) and map out your day. Make sure you’re back before sunset as the roads can get very narrow, windy, and are not well lit.

There are a lot of guides that will explain where to go if you only have a couple of hours if you only want to go halfway, if you want to reach Hana then turn around or if you want to complete the loop. What I will say is that going the full loop around (past Hana and back around) is ABSOLUTELY worth it, so get yourself a car that can handle the bumpiness of the road, buckle up, and be prepared to see the most breathtaking scenery on the island has to offer! Many car rental companies will make you sign a waiver saying you won’t take it into Hana unless it has 4WD so keep that in mind as you choose your car to rent.

A couple of considerations on the Road to Hana:

Do NOT believe the mile markers! They start to go backward in numbers at some point and then start again mid-way through. Use a map and other landmarks as indicators of how far out you are.

Speaking of maps, download offline maps! You will lose reception at some point and you will want to know how far you are until the next stop or when there is a hairpin turn coming up. Google Maps allows you to download maps you can access offline so do this ahead of time when you’re on good wi-fi!

If you do not have a whole day to spare, you can hit up the spots at the beginning of the Road to Hana, but note that many other tourists are planning to do the same so the first handful of waterfalls are the most crowded. I would actually recommend skipping these and going to the ones halfway in to avoid the crowds.

If you can, get a Jeep or something with 4 wheel drive rather than a small rental car. Once you pass Hana, there is a good stretch of maybe 15-20 miles of bumpy unpaved terrain and many rental car companies will make you sign a waiver saying you won’t take their cars out unless it’s 4WD. You’ll need a car with similar power to summit Haleakalā if that’s in your travel plans.

If you can, go on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowds.

The entire road, no matter how far you go, is very narrow and windy. The 2-way roads are more like one-way roads. Be prepared to drive slow as most of the turns you take require you to creep around and hug the corners of the road or yield to one-way traffic. It’s best to have the most experienced driver behind the wheel.

Stops along the Road to Hana (in order so you can plan out your day):

💧 Twin Falls (We recommend skipping this)

This is a very popular stop to hit up. I’ve gone in the past when I’ve only been able to see one or two locations, but it’s definitely the most crowded and difficult to find parking with tons of people on your path up to the waterfalls – I’d avoid this if you have the whole day ahead of you. If you do choose to go through, there is a waterfall at the end where you can swim in the pool at the bottom so bring swim trunks if you’re planning to jump in and then hop back into your car after!

🌳 Garden of Eden Arboretum and Botanical Garden (We recommend skipping this)

Also a very popular spot, it’s $15 per adult, $5 per child. Tons of beautiful scenery but again, if you are planning to do the whole loop, I promise you’ll get your fix of jaw-dropping moments at no additional cost. If you only have a short day though this isn’t a bad bet.

💧 Ho’okipa Beach Park & Lookout

Skip the first few stops and start here! You can park easily in the upper parking lot (the lower lot is mostly for surfers) and see the view of the ocean from here – additionally, some of the most intense surfers surf here if you want to watch people catch some waves. The water here has always looked bluer than anywhere else. The signs suggest not to walk down further buuuut, I’ve heard that you can see turtles from further down. Forever Nomday is not responsible for the choices that you make on this trip ^-^

🌳 Ke’anae Arboretum

This was our first forest stop so we walked all the way to the end out of excitement, but I’d say the best parts were on the paved path. This area is a reserve where they plant native flora for preservation.

🍌🍞 IMPORTANT BANANA BREAD PSA:

There is a whole online debate on who has the best banana bread on the Road to Hana. After having eaten many different contenders the verdict was that Halfway to Hana has the best one by a landslide! It’s the perfect mix of super moist banana-y goodness along with a crispy crust. Paired with a shaved ice – it is the perfect rest stop as you continue down the road. It was also the catalyst for making Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter Famous Banana Bread when we got home – which came out pretty damn close!

Slice of banana bread from Halfway to Hana on the Road to Hana

🌋 Lava Tube

A unique stop along the way if you want more that forests and waterfalls is the Lava Tube; an underground cave formed by flowing lava! Okay, I’ll be honest, I initially balked at the $12 entrance fee but having never been in a cave before it was not disappointing. They give you a flashlight at the entrance and allow you to self guide your way through the cave. There are signs posted along the way so you can learn about how the cave was formed by lava and the history of how it came to be. All I’ll say is that there were once 17,000lb of cow bones in that cave. The rest you’ll have to find out on your own.

🌳💧 Haleakalā National Park

In addition to the popular trek up to the summit of Haleakalā (which by the way you can not access from this side of the park), you may access Haleakala National Park from the Road to Hana. First, entering the park you will need to buy a parking pass ($25 for 3 days – or free with a National Parks pass!) which will also work for when you visit the summit so save your receipt! Park your car and follow the path that leads you up to the waterfalls. You can take a .5 mile walk up to view the Falls of Makahiku, continue up 1 mile to the Palikea Stream Crossing, or 2 miles to Waimoku Falls. By the time we got there, we had a full day of the Road to Hana under our belt and couldn’t walk any further, but I’ve heard the hike up to Waimoku is well worth it, weaving through bamboo forests, crossing waterfall rivers, and ending on breathtaking views. It’s already on our list for next time!

💧 ‘Ohe’o Gulch and its Seven Sacred Pools

As you head back follow the path back down, keep going until you reach ‘Ohe’o Gulch and its Seven Sacred Pools. ‘Ohe’o means “something special” and it certainly is. This is probably one of my favorite waterfall views as it flows down creating the pools below, definitely a breathtaking view.

Continuing around the back of the Road to Hana

As I mentioned before, it’s a little longer to continue the full road wrapping around Hana but I 100% recommend it as it’s far less crowded and the scenery is definitely to write home about. The landscape changes completely into something else every 20 minutes or so, it was jaw dropping. Plus once you get this far, it’s pretty slow to return back the way you came due to all the rest of the tourists with the same idea.