The Road to Hana is easily Maui’s most famous tourist destination.
From the towering roadside waterfalls, the dangerous one lane highway, and the iconic banana bread the Road to Hana is the perfect island adventure.
What is is the Road to Hana
The Road to Hana is a highway that stretches across the north east side of the island. It technically begins in the city of Paia and ends in Hana. It was originally a historic trail that lead to the remote self sufficient city of Hana which was rich in taro farming, fishing and traditional Hawaiian ways of life.
In the 1900’s construction began to create an official highways into the city, the project wasn’t completed until the 1950’s and began to become a landmark in the 70’s.
The route itself has over 50 one way bridges and over 600 curves.
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The Best Stops
The route is packed with stops some requiring permits, reservations and ahead of time planning. These are the best along the iconic Road to Hana, in order from Paia.
Remember that there is no service once you get past Paia, have a physical map and a playlist downloaded ahead of time!
Twin Falls Waterfall:
This is one of the easiest spots to get to with so much to do. If you want to swim in swim in waterfalls then this is the place.
Parking is $10 and it counts toward your entry fee, the entire area is private land, they accept cash and also apple pay.
Inside there are multiple hikes including some shorter ones, they have bathrooms, a coffee truck, and lots of tropical jungle to explore.
The Garden of Eden Arboretum
The Garden of Eden is where we spent the most time on our road trip across the Island.
The entrance fee was easily the most pricey out of all the stops we made along the route at $40 for two people.
Visit their website HERE to see when they are open and all prices
The property is massive with 26 acres of private waterfalls, bird enclosures, wild peacocks wandering the property and multiple different fruit tree groves and gardens. There are incredible view points throughout the property including the famous “Keopuka Rock” view seen in the opening scene of Jurassic Park.
This is the perfect spot for a picnic if you packed lunches! Make sure to also check out the gift shop full of local artisan crafts and snacks.
Halfway to Hana
Make sure to stop and try the world famous banana bread at this iconic road stop!
Upper Waikani Falls
You can get out and walk to these towering waterfalls however they are just as incredible when you drive by them. Parking is very limited on the one way street as they are situated behind one of the many one land bridges.
Coconut Glens
The most delicious non dairy coconut based ice cream truck with picnic benches and friendly cats.
Waiʻānapanapa State Park
This was easily the most anticipated stop on our trip that we completely failed on.
You MUST make reservations at least two days in advanced to even enter the state park or enter the beaches. They check the moment you pull in so make sure you have your reservation screen shotted or printed to show to the staff on site.
We completely missed this major detail so we did not get to experience the red and black sand beaches but these are typically the highlight of the Road to Hana so definitely make sure to plan accordingly.
Hana
The final destination, from here you can either continue down the road to Haleakala National Park or like most people turn around and make your way back to Paia.
If you are in need of gas make sure to fill up at Hasegawa General Store.
I’ll See you
