On Monday we chose to head back towards Paia and spend the day driving the Road to Hana and on to Oheo Gulch. We expected it to be a full day, but as events unfolded, it was much more than we expected…
Our day started with a rainbow - actually a double rainbow!
A map of the Road to Hana and our eventual destination at the Oheo Gulch.
The Road to Hana is one of the most scenic drives in the world and a must-do for anyone visiting Maui. This 64-mile stretch of highway winds along the northeastern coastline of the island, from the small town of Paia to the remote village of Hana. The road is narrow, winding, and at times treacherous, but the scenery is breathtaking.
This is pretty typical of the views as we made our way along the Road to Hana.
The journey along the Road to Hana takes you through lush tropical rainforests, past cascading waterfalls, and over dramatic sea cliffs. There are more than 600 curves and 59 bridges along the route, many of them one-lane bridges that require drivers to yield to oncoming traffic. It makes for a slow and sometimes crazy drive (especially when a truck shows up…).
One of the many little rivers that we crossed over.
One of the many stone bridges - most one lane.
The road is lined with various attractions and points of interest, such as the Twin Falls, Wailua Falls, and the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park. We had wanted to stop at the latter, but only found out the day of that you needed to book a reservation at least a day in advance. That was too bad as I really wanted Mom to see that one. There are also many opportunities for hiking, swimming, and picnicking along the way. We didn’t really get to do much beyond a few minor stops, other than the main one at Oheo Gulch (more on that below).
One of the most beautiful sights along the road were the small groves of Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. They have such beautiful colour in the trunks.
One of the highlights of the Road to Hana is the town of Hana itself, a sleepy little village that has remained largely untouched by modern development. While the Road to Hana can be a bit challenging to navigate, especially for those unfamiliar with the route, it is a journey that is well worth the effort. The natural beauty of Maui's eastern coastline is truly unforgettable, and the Road to Hana is one of the best ways to experience it.
Our spectacular destination for the day - Oheo Gulch, in Haleakala National Park.
Our main goal was to reach Oheo Gulch, part of Haleakala National Park. It is located about 15 minutes past Hana town, near mile marker 42 on the Hana Highway (Road to Hana). In 1969, the land where the Oheo Gulch is situated (formally known as Kipahulu coastal area) was donated to the Haleakala National Park system so that the pools would forever be open to the public.
Close up of the main waterfalls, with the beautiful stone bridge over the top.
There was a huge volume of water flowing through. At dinner on Friday, we were told stories of the waterfalls being almost dry, not too long ago. Hard to imagine.
Today, the Oheo Gulch is known by many names. Some call it the Kipahulu Area, while others call it the location of the Seven Sacred Pools. However, there are far more than just seven pools, so the name is quite inaccurate. The moniker originates from a 1940’s publicity campaign and remains to this day. There are actually dozens of pools and a multitude of waterfalls which flow through the Oheo Gulch into the ocean nearby. It was really wet when we arrived and the water flow was very high - dangerously so. There would be no swimming in the pools today.
A map of our little hike around Oheo Gulch.
After exploring for a bit, we felt it was likely time for us to head back. It was early afternoon, and we still had a long drive back. We made our way back through Hana and made a quick stop at Hamoa Beach. It’s a beautiful crescent beach with a reliable surf break. We would have loved to have stayed and swan and played in the waves, but to do so, I think you would need to stay in Hana.
After our brief stop, we start back along the road. It was busier going back than coming (not surprising), so we made OK time, but not great. That ended up being quite important. There were lots of waterfalls to stop at along the way, so we did, and took some more fun pics.
One of the most interesting stops of the day!
We had noticed a chocolate company on the way through and mom wanted to make a stop on the way back. And boy were we glad we did. They have ~2,000 cocoa trees on the property, and the guy running the place was a blast! He filled us in on their business and some of the chocolate they were making on site. The place smelled so good!
We ended up buying a few different bars, and having now eaten a couple of them, they make good stuff!
We made one more small stop as we headed back. Mom had never had a fresh coconut, so we stopped at one of the many little stands along the way to try one out. She was not impressed.
Mom giving it a try…
Lots of coconuts about.
So, this is where our day went off the rails. We maybe made one stop too many, for as we got about half way back, the traffic on the road came to a complete standstill. It looked like the cars were stopped ahead of us for quite some distance, but given the nature of the road, it was hard to tell. We sat there for a while. Some people started walking up to try and figure out what was going on, and eventually we discovered that there had been a landslide of some type and that the road was completely blocked!
There were a huge number of cars behind us, and it was unclear how far ahead of us the issue was. It was starting to get late, and eventually I decided I needed to go for a walk. It took me a good 20 minutes, maybe half an hour to walk to the front of the line of cars to see what had happened.
I was able to find out that there was equipment on the way, and that it could be between 1-3 hours for them to sort it out and get the traffic moving again. I made my way back to the car, and for fun, counted the cars from the landslide. We were car #200.
The spot on the map where we were stopped.
A slightly different view of where we were stuck. We still had a long drive back.
On both the walk up and the walk back I had a chance to use the time to take some photos of the cool stuff that I could see. Here’s a little gallery of some of them.
I think it was closer to one hour than 3 before the line of traffic finally started moving. We actually got clear pretty quickly, but we had a long drive home and we really had not planned for the day to be quite this long. We were quite exhausted by the time we were back to the condo.
As we were driving past, we noticed another turtle on the beach, so we went down in the dark to check it out.
