Day 5—The Road to Hana
Me: “My goal on the road to Hana is to hike to a waterfall and eat a lot of fruit from the fruit stands.”
Jamie (driver): “My goal is to not throw up or kill anyone.”
Driving the 52-mile serpentine road along Maui’s rugged northeastern coastline to Hana was a divisive issue. Some told us “it’s pretty but after you’ve seen one waterfall you’ve seen them all” while others touted Hana as the last of Hawaii’s unspoiled frontiers. Our conclusion: if you love the remote and don’t mind hairpin turns and one-lane bridges, you will love Hwy. 36’s stunning seascapes, taro patches waterfalls, botanical gardens and verdant rainforests.
With our guidebook Maui Revealed in hand, we had our route mapped out and planned to hike to a few lesser-known waterfalls. We quickly realized that other than obtuse mile markers, very few of the landmarks were marked, a curious phenomenon in a tourism-dominated land. We inadvertently drove past most of them in the beginning, after which we’d jokingly announce, “OK, moving on.”
Our drive wasn’t a complete fail. We CLICK TO KEEP READING ABOUT OUR FAVORITE SECRET SPOT ON THE ISLAND.
Our favorite secret spot on Maui
Join us on our week-long journey to Maui! In case you missed them:
Maui Family Travel–Your guide to 7 days in paradise Days 1 & 2
Maui Family Travel: Days 3 and 4 in the Glorious Upcountry and Beach Bums
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 