The Road To Hana

The sites that are associated with the road to Hana actually extend beyond the town of Hana all the way to the southern entrance of Haleakalā National Park. There are a lot of dire recommendations that you should then turn around and do the whole thing in reverse rather than risk being stuck on the back road home, and that you should maybe just give up all together and go on a tour. If you have a driver who loves to drive, I highly recommend you do the whole road and you do it on your own. It is a long day and having to wait for people on these tours can be even harder, and you can customize where you stop and where you go. So here goes. The Hana Highway (HI-360) has 620 curves and 59 bridges. Each and every bridge is one way, and so the recommendation is that you start early so there isn't too much traffic, but at each bridge it might be an opportunity for the driver to see things too! And if there isn't traffic (the day we did it I would say it was pretty light, so it can happen, even in the summer), you can go slow and maybe even pause on the bridge to relish the view. The road leads you through flourishing rainforests, flowing waterfalls, plunging pools and dramatic seascapes. There is jaw dropping beauty in an enviable variety the whole route and I can see why it is on so many people's bucket lists.