The Road to Hana, one of Maui’s most hyped-up activities, is a bit over-hyped. The fact that the road itself is so easily traversed, not the unpaved and potholed wreck it once was, makes the journey much more mundane and not dissimilar to the rest of Maui. Some of the most northern roads of the island were just as picturesque and rugged, and as easily accessible.
Photo © Richard D. LeCour
Our friends we were staying with on the island had done the Road earlier in the week and had previously purchased a map and CD to be played in the car while on the drive. It was a reasonably complete guide, missing a few points that we managed to visit by making the occasional diversion, and leading us to a few places that we would have sorely missed visiting. But overall the focus was mainly on the series of parks, waterfalls, and beaches along the road — not the fault of the guide, but that’s all there is along the Road.
Three things might have made the journey better: (1) more daylight, because even though we left at 7:30 a.m., we didn’t finish the round-trip trek until well into the night; (2) the knowledge that the trunk release in our rented Chrysler Sebring convertible does not function without the key in the ignition, because at times I was quite miserable carrying more than 30 pounds of equipment and essentials along slippery and often treacherous trails in torrential rains; and (3) Oheo Gulch, the location of many waterfalls and pools and generally considered the highlight of the entire sojourn, was unfortunately closed due to the sporadically increment weather conditions.
Photo © Richard D. LeCour
Interestingly, folks often refer to the waterfalls in Oheo Gulch as The Seven Sacred Pools, but that misnomer has only been around since 1947, a result of a clever and successful marketing effort by the then-fledgling Hana Hotel to drum up business.
The truth is that there are at least 24 pools in the gulch and there is nothing sacred about those particular pools other than the fact that ALL water is considered sacred in Hawaii.
I liked the many types of beaches on the journey most of all, along with the rainbow eucalyptus trees and the admission-free arboretums. The bumpy trip completely around the southeastern part of the island was pretty fun, too, even though it was dark and long — reminiscent of the old days of the regular Road to Hana.
I doubt I’d do the trip all the way to Hana proper again, other than for the reasons to visit a few of the beaches we had to miss thanks to waning daytime and somehow missing Charles Lindbergh’s Grave.
Overall, a 7 out of 10. Ride the smooth, paved, over-hyped Road if you have time. If not, go snorkeling or ride down Haleakala instead.
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