The Road to Hana: 2 Day Maui Road Trip with 20+ Stops

the road to Hana also known as the Hana Highway is one of the United States Premier road trips the 64-mile drive along the coast of Maui is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done along the way you can see countless waterfalls relax its stunning beaches Drive dozens of hairpin turns and eat some of the best banana bread in the world there's no chance I'm not eating this entire thing it's certainly a road trip you'll never forget we did the drive over two days and here's how to make the most of your time on the road to Hana let me know what you think in the comments and let's jump into it also I researched and watched videos on how to pronounce all these names so hopefully my pronunciation is okay for our road to Hana Journey we left early from the hotel we were staying at in Kihei our first stop was at a local coffee cart for coffee and banana bread before starting the drive I'm not disappointed at all we loaded up the Gypsy guide map and then continued the drive to Paya which is basically The Unofficial start to the road to Hana in case you didn't know this is a long and windy road with tons of amazing stops so be sure you give yourself enough time for this road trip our first stop was the restaurant Island fresh which is one of the only places that was open when we drove through the city it had a fresh fruit market next to the road and you could either sit down or take your food to go is there anything more Hawaii than a fruit stand with a rainbow behind it we decided to grab an acai bowl and we enjoy the double rainbow as we were waiting for it to be made you know it's going to be a good day when it starts with a double rainbow star fruit on top of our acai Bowl ing from there we followed the rainbow past the multi-colored surfboards and back to the Hana Highway this was the official start of the journey and because it's so hard to see everything in one day I included times for what we did and note that we actually stayed in Hana so we didn't have to go back which gave us a lot more time during the day so we were hoping to see the mile marker zero sign for road to Hana but unfortunately it's gone and uh the Gypsy guide we're listening to said people take it as a souvenir which is pretty lame no mile marker zero sign for us right now driving on we made it to our first official stop which was Twin Falls we planned the drive so we could get here right at 8am which is when they open this set of waterfalls and hiking trails is on private property so you do have to pay if you want to visit if I didn't have a full day I'd be swimming there so cool so pretty Twin Falls is once just a fruit stand that people would visit and that had access to some amazing waterfalls it was basically a locally kept secret but it's become popular over the last few decades so they had to charge and create infrastructure for people to visit I just realized that I forgot to introduce Amy who is not pops not pops today we're experiencing the road to Hana in Maui I'm the wife by the way if you want to just quickly see waterfalls you can see two of the smaller ones with only a short walk from the car both of them do require you to climb down some rocks in order to get closer to them this is a fun little area you just keep walking on this Trail and you hear water and you go out and you see another waterfall now we're heading out in about a mile round trip to the Upper Falls the hike is beautiful with lush green and lots of water everywhere if you do the drive to Hana and note that it's often rainy and muddy so you want to prepare for that plus bring your swimsuit if you want to swim so there are two stream Crossings on this hike and honestly it's better just to have water shoes than to try to climb on the Rocks so bring water shoes for your hiking when you're on the road to Hana the Upper Falls is about 40 feet tall and it's stunning with a big swimming pool right below it you can also go climb behind this entire waterfall in that cave or you can swim here it's pretty incredible we're heading on because we have a lot of stops you want to see today but this would be a pretty good place to spend a couple hours for sure that was a strong first stop okay I can't play it at all only one of like 15 waterfalls I know I can't believe we're gonna get to see more it's so cool the first time as we got back in the car we hit a little bit of rain which is an everyday occurrence in this part of Maui I highly recommend you buy the Gypsy guide map when you do the road to Hana it's not sponsored or anything but Amy and I both loved it there's lots of wildlife on the road this morning it follows you as you drive and it chimes in with lots of interesting information about the things that you're driving past it gives you great information on local areas like this rainbow eucalyptus right here which you're not supposed to stop at because it's private property I probably would have stopped because of all the people but I was glad to know that it wasn't a place I was supposed to go so I could continue on our next stop brought us to the waikamui nature trail there's very limited parking here for less than 10 cars but that's pretty much true for every stop on the road to Hana find a spot to park then it's about a half mile trail that takes you through a beautiful part of the area these trails are muddy mud water shoes you'll be prepared for anything on the road to Hana the rain started up again while we were on the trail and there's lots of routes you have to maneuver as you continue up we were supposed to have seen two viewpoints on this Trail but I haven't seen any yet and we are now looping back to the parking area while this is a pretty Trail and a nice nature walk if you're short on time this is definitely one that you could skip be quiet the trees are at work we made it back didn't find any Lookouts but it was still a nice Trail on to the next spot here's a look at the parking area and the amount of traffic that was already on the road at 9am on a weekday almost directly after the nature walk you'll cross the bridge with a waterfall in the distance there's also the Garden of Eden Arboretum here if you want another spot to stop but we decided to continue on there's about a dozen waterfalls at the different small Bridges but almost all of them have no way to pull over and take a photo so you just have to see it while you're driving our next stop was at the kamahina state Wayside Park there's not a lot of bathrooms along the drive so this is a great place to stop and use the bathroom if you need to plus there's a little bit of a view along the coastline [Music] from here the road is even curvier than normal as it heads along the coastline and back into an inlet okay make it over I found a new muscle that was still struggling to try to make your back after our hike yesterday the hike was brutal was it worth going over that really tough part to get this view though it really was it was worth it not complaining this view is just accessed from a random pullout along the road which shows why this road is so amazing I mean views like this don't even have a designated pullout getting back on the windy Hana Highway our next stop was at the kni Arboretum again there's only parking for about six to ten cars here and it is free to enter and one of the better stops on the drive for our next stop we're at this Arboretum that's supposed to have rainbow eucalyptus and it's less than a mile out and back this is already a beautiful path road to Hana is right there but it doesn't feel like you're near it so here's the major things you can see here bamboo breadfruit rainbow eucalyptus Ginger and then the Taro Grove the kni Arboretum sits on six acres and has over 150 different types of plants it was established in 1971 and it's the best public area along the road to Hana to see rainbow eucalyptus here's the rainbow eucalyptus but unfortunately a lot of people have tagged them which is really sad to see these trees are fascinating to see in real life and they can grow over 200 feet tall basically they have a smooth bark on the outside and as it sheds it reveals these colors that you can see in the videos it was a huge highlight for me but I was really bummed that people had carved their name in the trees [Music] of course the rainbow eucalyptus is the main draw but honestly this is just an incredible place to explore take some time to really experience this area wander the trails along the creek see the different types of plants and just enjoy the beauty of Hawaii this is a cool spot what do you think it's beautiful amazing you really feel like you're in the middle of the rainforest yeah this is one of the best stops we've seen so far yeah for sure get out and get this one I think our next stop or one of the next stops is banana bread are you ready for some banana bread for sure ready for some banana bread and maybe a coconut as soon as you leave the Arboretum be sure to watch for the turn off for the kni peninsula it's easy to miss and this is definitely a spot you do not want to skip Coastal views are amazing as you drive in but of course the main draw here is the banana bread look at what we found [Music] wait even if you don't think you like banana bread you absolutely should stop and grab one just to be sure the bread you've been driving for we shall see we're gonna take ours and eat it at the lookout it's hot we drove five minutes past the stand to the K and I look out to have our banana bread with a view sure you want to do don't damage my banana bread Amy finally got into the banana bread all right let's get this nice break banana bread break happening right here in the middle yeah all right whoa look at that it's steaming and everything all right oh yeah I didn't know I needed to taste banana bread like that before that is so good 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. all right my turn wow that is incredible I might have to buy another one of these just for the continuing the road on there's no chance I'm not eating this entire thing say the banana bread lives up to expectations and on the way back we bought two more loafs Amy was also excited because there was a stand that was selling coconuts right along the beach and they would cut them open for you so you could drink the juice and then cut them again so you could eat the inside [Music] unfortunately I'm not used to using wireless mics so this entire section I didn't realize the mic wasn't recording Amy's basically saying how much she enjoyed her coconut though this Beach area is awesome to explore as you can watch the waves crashing over The Lava Rock basically the entire peninsula here was created from lava flow from the Haleakala Volcano the peninsula also has a sad history as there was a tsunami created from an earthquake in 1946 that basically destroyed the town and killed many of its inhabitants the church in the middle of the town was basically the only thing that survived up to 35 foot waves [Music] after they cut the coconut meat out of Amy's coconut we headed on and here's the church that I mentioned earlier drive slow on the road back to the Hana Highway as it's pretty narrow and there's lots of blind curves which people go around fast right after you get back on the Hana Highway there's a pullout on the left hand side that lets you look over the peninsula and over the Taro fields you were Sandy's banana bread is and where we were sitting to eat our coconut next up is halfway to Hana which is a small shop with drinks food and shaved ice but it's mostly known for the halfway to Hana sign which basically everybody stops take a picture with [Music] next up is the wailua Valley State Wayside Park again there's only six or so parking spots here and the parking lot is tiny but it's definitely worth it if you can get a spot you can climb about three sets of stairs to get to the top of this Overlook and to be able to see a massive view in both directions in One Direction you have the coast and the Hana Highway and then in the other direction you could see three different waterfalls out in the distance the road continues with more curves narrow one-lane Bridges and then more waterfall views along the way again there's lots of waterfalls that you're not going to be able to stop and see so you just have to take them in as you're driving if you do see space that any of the official pullouts near the waterfalls be sure to take them as you never know what you might see this random pullout that we stopped at had an amazing waterfall right below it that we never would have known was there [Music] next up was the Pua akaa State Wayside area this spot has a decent amount of parking and bathrooms if you need them plus there's multiple waterfalls that you can see after you cross the road this is definitely one you don't want to miss is it's very easy to see the waterfalls here and they're pretty beautiful again the road crosses a few more bridges with a couple amazing waterfalls at them before making it to what is normally a great lunch spot this is the nahiku marketplace and it's where I plan to have lunch but make sure you note that plans can change on the road to Honda pops isn't here for me to have him stick his head in this thing so Amy's up driving to Hana so unfortunately everything for food is closed here except for the coffee shop so we got some coffee and we'll try to find some food in Hana this is a good reminder that even if something says it's open that doesn't mean it's open also be sure to bring food on this drive as you never know when you're going to be able to buy it as we are getting closer to Hana we decided we should have a cave experience before we get there we're about to do I went through a lava tube right now got your flashlight ready to go note that the lava tube is cash only so be sure you have cash before you get here also it's a fun family-friendly Adventure as there's a big garden labyrinth outside and the entire tour is self-guided so you can go as fast or as slow as you'd like foreign this is also a fallout shelter this cave is very wide open and there's only one small section that has a narrow ledge you have to go under do note though that it's very uneven and it's in the dark so if you have a problem with your footing you might not want to do this cave has a lot of dripping water we have made it to the end of the cave which is a quarter mile Underground cave keeps going but not on our tour they said there's a room over here we can see though this is the chocolate room which I have to say I think the other one was more of a chocolate room it's like there's pieces of chocolate on the walls that was a pretty fun spot we're heading back out it's a little small for you for cave exploring I've been in a lot of caves and this isn't one of the best ones I've been in but it was well worth the stop on the road to Hana that was a fun time exploring that cave especially for like an adventurous family we're heading on now to Hana hopefully to get something to eat and go to the National Park during this section of the drive most people will visit ynap and Napa but we visited on tomorrow's portion of the drive one of the locals at the lava tube told us that this is a good spot so I got Loco Moco what'd you get pokey so this is where the locals eat I don't know if that's true or not or they just tell the tourists that but I'm excited Amy went with the Ahi poki which looks pretty strong that's amazing and I went traditional Hawaiian Loco Moco which she told me was the best ever so I don't know how it's going to be for a hiking meal but what is in it this is hamburger meat with gravy on top of rice and two over easy eggs I have no idea what to expect brown gravy hamburger and egg it's pretty good it's very hearty with the hamburger and the rice I mean I don't know if I'd eat all the time but I'm not upset about it Amy's Pokey is pretty strong though so good that was a good lunch spot thank you to the local who recommended it to us we are heading on to the national park because supposedly they closed the gates at five and we want to make sure we can do the trail before they close the gate so we're skipping a few things in the Hana area but we'll come back and do them later from Hana it's about a 35 minute drive to Haleakala National Park's West entrance along the way there are a few different stops that you can do including the most popular waterfall on the road to Hana also note that for me this was the most treacherous portion of the drive the drive here is very narrow and there's lots of sections where you can barely pass another car when they're coming at you I was glad to get this portion of the drive over and I was extremely glad to be able to find parking at wailua Falls after parking you'll walk across the narrow bridge it can take the little path down to the base of the waterfall the walk down is short but it is uneven and there's some rock copying you have to do [Music] hey crazy waterfall the waterfall Cascades over the canyon and falls about 80 feet into the pool below a lot of people are taking advantage of the pool below the waterfall and getting in and swimming we just took the waterfall in from the Rocks as we had a big hike we were heading towards the trail so far this waterfall is definitely an example of how difficult some of the areas are to see on the road to Hana by far one of the most impressive stops but there's only about 10 to 12 spaces for parking and it's like a one-lane road to even get around the parking area that is a crazy one getting down there parking walking across the bridge everything about it is crazy it was worth it when we left the parking area the traffic started to fizzle out as we made our way toward Haleakala National Park it was only about a 10 minute drive and this is basically the turnaround point for everyone who's doing the road to Hana there is an entrance fee to visit the national park but if you pay here you can enter the crater portion on the same fee within three days made it to Haleakala National Park the end of the road to Hana and now we're going to go hiking and then maybe we'll explore a little more our first stop at the national park was The Visitor Center which was small but had exhibits on the Park's history we are here and we're gonna head out and do the sacred pools and then we're going to go all the way up to the waterfall the trailhead for both trellis is right next to the visitor center and the Seven sacred pools is about a half mile round trip and the trail to the waterfall is four miles round trip [Music] it's got all of these different parts that are growing up [Music] so funny story I rushed out here because I was told from blogs and things I saw online that the gate closed at five and I want to make sure I could do it before the gate closed and I went in I asked the national park ranger they said no it doesn't close where'd you get that information is it online lots of blogs and stuff she said we'll go to the National Park website I said I did there was no information about the hours she said yeah we don't post our hours because it's 24 hours I feel like well that would have been good to know so that I didn't have to rush here but if you're coming guess you don't have to rush anymore and you can come whenever you'd like I recommend doing this Trail counterclockwise so that you get the main portion out of the way first and then you walk along the seven sacred pools as you make your way back out the pools this is a beautiful trail that really shows the area's unique plants those are the seven sacred pools right there and that is incredible sure have swam in that one up there Amy remembers swimming here like 20 years ago right yeah when I was a kid we jump in right by those you can walk behind the waterfalls no swimming right now but that would be pretty Epic I was researching swimming online and it looks like you haven't been able to swim here for at least five to six years it also doesn't look like they're ever planning on reopening it but who knows maybe it'll be open again in the future the views up towards the waterfall are amazing here and there's a small trail that goes along to give you Coastal views all the way up the pools even if you don't want to do the longer Four Mile Trail this is definitely worth driving out for just for this short Trail that was incredible the views from here are stunning amazing it looks like the walk down to swim there has been closed for a long time this plant's growing up so maybe Amy's group was the one that closed it 20 years ago we were very respectful Trail follows those seven sacred pools all the way up to the main waterfall and there's a great viewing area before you head Inland and connect back with the trailhead [Music] now we're heading out on the ppy trail four miles round trip if you decide to do this Trail a few things to note before you head out first there's about 900 feet of elevation so there are some steep sections second there's a lot of roots and potentially slippery areas after a rain so just know that going in as someone from California it's the humidity that gets you I hike a lot and I couldn't even tell you how many hikes I've been on but this was easily one of the best hikes I've ever done in my life at right around the half mile Mark you'll reach an Overlook for the first waterfall makahiku Falls is about 200 feet and it's stunning seeing it fall into the canyon below if you're not up for a longer hike you can always just do the one mile round trip to get to this overlook they described this waterfall as having cathedral-like Cliffs that are looking up to the heavens I'd say that's a pretty good description the next point of interest is this huge Banyan Tree [Music] that's a massive tree [Music] this has already been a pretty epic trail with that tree and that waterfall Overlook and there's still another waterfall and a bamboo forest as you continue the trail goes up Rock steps until it eventually meets the first of a few Bridges two massive waterfalls right here Harold it's awesome I can't overstate how consistently awesome this Trail is there's so many things that be destinations on their own that you just see as you're walking along the trail I was so excited to see this bamboo forest and I thought this was the bamboo forest on the trail but about a mile later I was in a much bigger bamboo forest than this what do you think of the bamboo forest Amy it's awesome it is very magical like you said Trail continues to wind around on a few more bridges that give you different views of the previous waterfalls so according to all Trails we didn't even make it to the bamboo forest yet but it feels like we're in a bamboo forest right now so I'm excited to see what the heck that means up there after a little bit more walking we arrived at the official bamboo forest this is crazy there's bamboo all around you can hear the sound of them like smacking into each other so cool the bamboo forest starts at right around the one mile mark on the trail it feels like it goes for about a half mile as well as it just keeps going have you ever seen anything like this on a trail absolutely not especially when it expected to be in America yeah for sure this is crazy there's just look up yeah there's so much bamboo can you even believe that we have this crazy place all to ourselves no I just expect to be like hundreds of people right here but it's just us I haven't even seen the last waterfall and I'm already giving this Trail 5 out of 5 Stars yeah for sure one of the best parts about the bamboo forest is just the elevated Boardwalk that allows you to walk through it not be in the mud and just provides a cool photo as well I feel like this bamboo we've entered is like from Jurassic Park or something there's gonna be like a dinosaur that pops out it feels very ominous for sure Raptor around the corner like 100 there's a raptor coming yeah [Music] we got our first view of the waterfall still a little ways to go though the first few of waimoku Falls as we came around the bend is something that I'll never forget it was incredible to be so low in the canyon to see the waterfall cascading above us this waterfall is about 400 feet tall and its commanding presence in the area also my camera lens kept fogging up from the humidity which is why you see that weird glow up in the sky oh we made it to the waterfall it's amazing foreign of the trail it says do not go past here so we're not going past but that's still a pretty epic View I want to say that was one of the best Trails I have done in a long time incredible yeah it was awesome so much to look at all the way all the way and then this is what you end at it's pretty awesome putting this away and we'll see you when we get to our hotel in Hana so I can show you that and then more beaches tomorrow before we end the video on the way back to the parking area I did stop one more time at the Banyan tree and to take a time lapse of the sunset over the first waterfall before we drive back to the hotel I just want to say that everything takes longer than you expected to take it's six o'clock right now I thought we'd be done before five and we're just now leaving to drive back to Hana the drive back to Hana on the narrow road at night time was a little sketchy and I didn't think there'd be any food open but luckily we were able to find this food truck Village that had a couple places open until seven finishing the night with Amy got Thai food and I got poke not bad the food trucks were open until seven this is our hotel room in Hana it's one of the most expensive places I've ever booked it's really nice unfortunately though we don't get to spend much time here but it's very nice to not have to drive back this hotel ended up costing around 500 for one night but there's basically only a couple little places to stay in all of Hana so it's gonna be expensive if you want to stay if you don't have a hotel in Hana plan on about two and a half to three hours to get back to Central Maui from where we were hiking to the waterfall that's it for our first day we'll see you tomorrow morning where we're gonna go to some of the beaches before we end the video [Music] I got up to see the sunrise from our hotel deck and I have to say it was well worth it I would have loved to have spent more time here but unfortunately we had to make the drive back to go to the airport saying goodbye to our hotel and we're going to explore a little bit more of Hana before we start the road back Hana is known for its stunning beaches with ynap and Napa being the most famous we wanted to see a couple others before we went to that one so we headed to koki Beach this beach was incredible when we got there with a large Red Cliff Sitting on one side and then the sunrise on the other not a bad way to start the morning after hanging out for a little while we drove another five minutes and rounded the bed to get to hamoa beach I was blown away by how beautiful this one was and I think if I would have had more time to spend in Hana I probably would have spent it here this is the second beach only about a five minute drive from the last one this is homoa Beach how do you beat that it's stunning but we are heading on to why NAPA NAPA [Music] our last order of business in Hana was to drive to wainapanapa Beach it's probably the most famous Beach on the road to Hana as it's the black sand beach that you've no doubt seen photos of if you want to visit here you have to get a reservation in advance and there's three different time slots that you can pick from that allow you a few hours at the beach looks pretty perfect right now glad we got here in the morning we got the earliest time slot which was a huge benefit to staying in Hana as we got to experience the beach without a lot of other people I think reservation systems like this are nice as it allows you to experience the beauty of the area without crowds of people Amy's still hobbling from the Haleakala Summit hike so uh be sure to watch that one and give it a like for her I think it was also the 10 miles we did yesterday foreign our first order of business at the beach was to visit the sea cave it's crazy bright the CK was only really accessible When the tide is low and when it is you can walk all the way out and get an awesome view of the arch looking out over the water [Music] watch out It's Gonna Get You you guys check this out that's so cool just straight up Black Rock [Applause] be sure to check out this cave it's not that bad once you go under that little small part by the entrance it's very wide back here after exploring the cave it was back to the main Beach to Marvel at the black sand you can really see how black the sand is when you see how white my feet are with no tan one of those places where you absolutely do not want to rush I would recommend planning at least a few hours to hang out here and relax as of recording this do note that you're only allowed to stay for the time that it says on your reservation most of the reservation time is around three hours and they do require you to leave when your reservation is over if you wanted to stay all day you would need to purchase multiple reservations in order to stay there's also about a mile and a half of trails that go along the coastline you have the time and the energy I highly recommend walking along these trails they have pretty uneven footing with some rocks that you have to hop over but they do give you great views back towards the beach this place is magical you have to get a reservation you have to come here on the road to Hana we stayed for about an hour and then we began to drive back on the Hana Highway thanks for going on this road to Hana adventure with us we're heading back as we got a plan to catch this afternoon let us know what you think of our trip in the comments and we'll see you on the next one before ending the video I just wanted to say that the road to Hana requires a lot of planning in order to accomplish well I have another video on tips to make the most of your time on the road to Hana and a video on my favorite stops that you can prioritize what you want to see also there's an e-book that you can purchase in the description with a lot more information best believe we stopped to get banana bread again and uh we got two for the road that's how we roll thanks again for watching and we'll see you on the next one foreign

Channel: Through My Lens

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Length: 32min 57sec (1977 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 05 2023