Perfect Day #34 — Road to Hana

Early on the 4th day, you’ll start a full day’s journey from the North Shore to Hana. You’ll have several advantages over day-trippers who start on South or West Maui. Most important, based on the author’s own experience, somehow the beaches and bays from Spreckelsville to Ho’okipa, Pa’ia, Haiku and Makawao, Upcountry and Olinda, all work to get your spirit, feelings and mind ready for the inspirational journey to Hana, that becomes simply an extension of the previous days.

The first stop is Twin Falls at the Twin Falls Fruit Stand (if you have not already been to Twin Falls on a visit to Huelo during the previous couple of days). If you already have visited Twin Falls, drive on to Waikamoi Ridge and its nature walk and trails and then to Puohokamoa Falls. After Huelo you’ll have your first experience navigating the really sharp curves along Hana Highway. Drive carefully and honk your horn when entering curves.

Ko’olau Forest Reserve

Drive along Hwy. 36 past MM16 where it turns to Hwy. 360 and mile markers return to 0. For the next 10 miles, the Ko’olau Forest Reserve rises up to the 4000’ level thick with vegetation -- guava trees laden with green and yellow fruit, mangos, tall eucalyptus trees, here and there groves of bamboo, and broad-leafed Hala trees that traditionally supplied everything woven by Huelo’s residents. Within the forest reserve also is an amazing network of tunnels and irrigation ditches built by Henry Baldwin. Near MM7 and the hand-hewn stone Kaaiea Bridge grows a forest of bamboo.

Waikamoi Ridge Trail

Past MM9 on the mauka side of the highway, a turnout leads to well-marked Waikamoi Ridge Trail. A pair of intersecting loops offers more than a mile of relatively easy hiking through the kind of koa, kukui, African tulip and other trees and growth typical of the Ko’olau Forest Reserve bordering Hana Highway (and also populated by hordes of mosquitoes). Many of these plants are identified. Benches along the way provide resting places. You’ll find rest rooms, picnic tables and a BBQ at the trailhead.

The trail climbs a couple of hundred feet through eucalyptus trees wrapped in giant philodendrons, white ginger, ferns, hala, guava, and other plants to a bamboo-covered ridge with a wonderful view of the coast and Ke’anae Peninsula, and a picnic hut. A hunter’s road descends from this clearing directly to the trailhead. As an alternative, backtrack and then take the other part of the loop trail to the trailhead. (Precaution: wear mosquito repellent!)

Garden of Eden

About a mile beyond Waikomo, watch for the entrance to the Garden of Eden. About 26 acres of gardens and nature trails show over 500 exotic plants and trees from around the Pacific. Even though you may be planning to visit the Ke’anae Arboretum (MM16/17), this is a very worthwhile stop to see a very nicely organized and labeled botanical collection in a lovely garden (9am. to 2pm., $5 per person).

Puohokamoa Falls
After MM10 and just before the bridge at MM11, watch carefully for a narrow, unmarked trail that leads to a lookout over cascading Puohokamoa Falls. Park in one of only two spaces just before the bridge. A path leads from here to a picnic shelter and table that overlooks the middle Puohokamoa Falls -- only one of three falls. Many visitors don’t realize that Puohokamoa also has a 200’ lower falls and an upper falls with a pool that invites a swim (unless rain turns the stream and falls into raging waters). For the lower falls, you have to step over a fence and make your way through some brush but it’s probably the biggest, most beautiful falls that you see all day.

Kaumahina State Wayside

Just past MM12 you can take a rest stop at Kaumahina State Wayside and enjoy marvelous views of the rugged coastline and Ke’anae Peninsula, the secluded community up ahead on a peninsula built by lava flows from Haleakala. Just past MM13, look mauka for Punalau Stream. If you’re prepared to walk on boulders up the stream, it leads to rarely visited Punalau Falls.

Honomanu Valley and Bay
After MM14, descend a short dirt road into the rugged Honomanu Valley carved steeply around Honomanu Stream. Honomanu Bay deeply indents the coastline. Its gray sand beach covered with boulders is set in a beautiful bay backed by steep cliffs covered with green. This is a short- and long-board surfers’ getaway spot with swells of 4- to 8-feet in winter. (Warning: watch out for a rip current in the middle of the bay.) When you drive up from Honomanu Bay, watch for a small turnout on the left (and no oncoming traffic) where a grassy area with a couple of benches provides great views of the photogenic Bay and coastline.

Ke’anae Arboretum
Continue driving through a series of turnouts that offer marvelous views as Hana Hwy. zigs and zags across the base of Haleakala and descends close to the bay. Between MM16 and MM17, the YMCA Camp Ke’anae (242-9007) provides cabins or campsites with a tent for $10 per person. Just after the YMCA Camp, a gate marks the start of the Ke’anae Arboretum with picnic tables, hiking trails and native Hawaiian and Polynesian plant species, and ornamental and food plants. A shaded, almost level path covers less than a mile and passes giant bamboo, the bright red blossoms of African tulip trees, heliconias, ginger, different kinds of dryland and wetland taro, native and introduced trees, and typical Hawaiian rain forest. There are several varieties of bananas as well as papayas and breadfruit trees. Most plants have name markers. You can swim in the pools of the Piinaau Stream or hike in Ke’anae Valley.

Ke’anae Village and Peninsula
Not more than 100 yards beyond Ke’anae Arboretum is the left turn into Ke’anae Rd. (watch out for oncoming traffic from around the curve ahead). Narrow Ke’anae Rd. passes little plantation homes (and even some vacation rentals) and flooded taro patches en route to tiny Ke’anae Village and historic Ke’anaeCongregational Church -- ihi’ihio lehowa ona Kaua Church. Dating from the 1860s, the church was built from lava rocks and coral mortar but rebuilt in the 1990s. This church was the only building left standing after Ke’anae was wiped out by the tsunami (tidal wave) of 1946.

After stopping to see (and photograph) the church, park in the parking area next to the church and walk or continue driving on the paved road along the Peninsula’s shoreline until it turns to dirt and leads to a small parking area. With the ocean on your left, walk from the parking area for a few minutes to a lagoon, Ke’anae Pool, formed at Ke’anae Beach.

The end of Keane Stream is separated from the ocean by a gravel bar. Change into a swimsuit and have a refreshing swim upstream about 50 yards to a small waterfall and pool. Higher upstream are the fabled Sapphire Pools that you’ll see and should visit when you return to Hana Hwy. On the way out, stop at the Ke’anae Landing Fruit Stand and buy some banana bread for munching later on or wait a short while for banana bread at the Halfway to Hana stand.

Blue Sapphire Pools
Return to Hana Highway, make a very careful left turn and two bridges ahead are the Blue Sapphire Pools. Park up the jeep road and make your way to a series of crystal clear pools below the bridge that, except for hungry mosquitoes, are perfect for swimming. If you’re lucky, you won’t find many people, but the pools can get crowded.

Ching’s Pond
Returning to the highway, at the bridge just before MM17 a path leads down to Ching’s Pond, a really good swimming pool fed by a stream running under the bridge. Slow down for snacks (especially scrumptious banana bread) at the Uncle Harry’s stand known as Halfway toHana.

Wailua Village
Just past MM18, the turnoff heads down Wailua Rd. to Wailua Village where you’ll discover the pink coral St. Gabriel’s Church (1860) and behind it the blue-and-white “Coral Miracle Church,” Our Lady of Fatima Shrine. As legend goes, men in the village were diving deep off shore to gather coral to build the church when a storm washed just enough coral onto the nearby shore to build the church, and then another storm washed the unused remainder back into the ocean.

Ke’anae Overlook

Almost at MM19 at Ke’anae Overlook you’ll have another chance to see the patchwork quilt of taro farms on Ke’anae Peninsula against the backdrop of the ocean. Climb the stairs through the hau tree tunnel for great views up and down the coast. Eruptions of Haleakala sent streams of lava through the Ko’olau Gap of the volcano’s crater and down Ke'anae Valley to the sea, filling the valley and, most recently, forming Ke’anae Peninsula.

Wailua Valley State Wayside
A little further on Hana Hwy., Wailua Overlook in the Wailua Valley State Wayside provides an excellent viewpoint for the tiny, quaint community of Wailua that grew up around taro growing. Climb up the stairs for a view of Ke’anae Valley, Wailua Peninsula and waterfalls.
Waikani Falls
From Ke’anae and Wailua, the Hana Hwy. crosses numerous streams and steep forested valleys, all with waterfalls, en route to the hamlet of Nahiku. Mauka between MM 20 and MM21 is huge Waikani Falls that dramatically drops about a 1,000 feet in stages under the highway. At the far side of the bridge, a short path leads to the falls. Just past MM21, adventuresome travelers can take a short walk up a dirt road to another waterfall set in a lovely valley and then to Kopili’ula Falls past MM 22. One of the best reasons for taking a sidetrip down to the Wailua Peninsula is to see the spectacular view of Waikini Falls.

Pua’aka’a State Wayside and Falls
Picnic shelters at Pua’aka’a StateWayside are right beside a waterfall and pools safe for swimming on two levels surrounded by ferns, heliconias, and other flowering plants. The park at MM22.5 has rest rooms and picnic tables. In another two miles you’ll see Hanawi Falls, very photogenic when the water flow is heavy.

Nahiku
If you’re up for one more falls, cross the bridge (over Makapipi Stream) past MM 25, park at the shoulder and walk back to the bridge and look down at Makapipi Falls. From your parking spot after the bridge, drive down the twisting (paved), very narrow one-lane road bordered by flowers for about 3 miles to Nahiku. (NOTE: Most drivers miss or ignore this turnoff, not realizing that Nahiku is one of the hidden delights of the Hana Highway and Maui.)

This lovely road takes you through dense tropical greenery, past Nahiku’s charming church (1867) to a picnic area shaded by coconut palms with dramatic views at Honolulunui Bay. The late George Harrison lived in this remote retreat. A rubber plantation at the beginning of the 20th century, too much rain fell on Nahiku for rubber plants to thrive but just enough to support an incredible profusion of flowers, shrubs and fruit trees like guava and papaya.

Hana Gardenland
The first sign of Hana is the abundance of flowering plants sold at Ali’i Gardens on Hana Hwy. and then Hana Gardenland Café and Nursery (open 9-5 p.m.) that sells delicious sandwiches in addition to unusual species of tropical flowers. This might be the perfect time for a snack before driving down ‘Ula’ino Rd. at MM31. Hana Gardenland also rents two houses nestled in palms and gardens, the Palms House that sleeps 4 and the Garden House with two separate residences that sleep up to 10 people.

‘Ula’ino Rd

Ula’ino Rd. leads to the 123-acre Kahanu National TropicalBotanical Gardens (248-8912), a botanical research center, and the 300-foot-by-300-foot, 16th-century stone Pi’ilanihale Heiau rising 50’ high in the jungle. Along this road is Ka’eleku Cave in which Maui Cave Adventures provides 1- and 2-hour tours through the cavern.

Kahanu Gardens
A branch of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens, 122-acre Kahanu Gardens was closed for a while due to funding problems but is open again (10 a.m. -2 p.m., reservations required, 248-8912). The Gardens provides guided tours ($10 per person that also include Pi’ilanihale Heiau) of its lovely collection of native and introduced plants.

Pi’ilanihale Heiau
Huge Pi’ilanihale Heiau, the largest prehistoric monument in Hawai’i, only recently was unearthed and restored. Pi’ilanihale Heiau is listed on the National Register of HistoricSites. You can see the heiau yourself ($5 per person) or parties of four can arrange for a guided tour (weekdays, 9am. - 3pm, 248-8912) by calling 48 hours in advance.

Completed in the late 16th century for king Pi’iIani, (although its origins are in the late 1200s AD), this is the same king who built “King’s Highway” around the island. (The King’s Highway Trail around the island’s shoreline now is visible only in small fragments where it passes through lava fields like those east of La Pérouse Bay and from Wai’anapanapa Bay to Hana)

Wai’anapanapa Park
Back to Hana Highway and past the turnoff to Hana Airport, turn seaward at the MM32 into Wai’anapanapa Park to see, and perhaps walk along, Honokalani Black Sand Beach, visit the spring-fed freshwater caves, and perhaps even take a dip in one of them. Honokalani Black Sand Beach is set in a beautiful cove among black lava formations and greenery along the coast. When the water is calm (warning: watch out for rip currents), you can snorkel toward a large natural arch on the south side of Pailoa Bay fronting Black Sand Beach.

The Wai’anapanapa Caves, only a short walk from the parking lot, are connected with a tragic legend of Chief Kaakea’s jealousy that led to the violent murder of his wife, Popoalaea, and her attendant. The cave is the legendary hiding place of this Hawaiian princess and her attendant trying to escape her angry husband who believed that she was untrue to him. Discovered, both women were killed.

Wai’anapanapa Caves were formed when two tubes collapsed and created upper and lower pools filled with water. The red water supposedly represents the blood of the Chief’s victims. Actually the water in the pool is colored red by thousands of tiny shrimp that occasionally enter the cave from cracks in the lava. You can swim in the lower pool and even under the ledge at the back of the pool to the chamber where the princess and her companion supposedly hid.

Wai’anapanapa Park has 12 furnished cabins, from 1- to-3-bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms and showers, with bedding, linens, towels, and other essentials, available for bookings (far ahead of time) at about $45 per night (max. 5 nights) by calling State Parks (243-5354).

King’s Highway

Starting near Black Beach, the “King’s Highway” footpath (c. 1550) follows the lava shore three miles to Hana Bay. Along the way to Hana you’ll cross a lava bridge, pass the walls of Ohala Heiau and a fishermen’s shrine. About two miles from the trailhead is the beach at boulder-laden Kainalimu Bay where a sign marks the trail’s end. To get to Hana Bay, you have to cross Nanualele Point on an unpaved road that meets Waikoloa Road, passes Waikoloa Beach and connects with Uakea Road that leads toHana Beach Park and town. If you want to hike the King’s Highway, the problem is returning to your car at Wai’anapanapa State Park. The solution is to book an excursion along this trail at the Hotel Hana-Maui and transportation will be provided.