Kaanapali and Hana are on opposite sides of the island. Since we had quite a drive ahead of us we decided to take the faster route to Kahului through the south-west instead of the north. After a quick pit stop at Cafe Mambo in Paia for some smoothie goodness, we continued on the Road to Hana.
When we were looking into things that we should be doing in Maui, the Road to Hana was one of the most often mentioned activities. And it lived up to our expectations. The long and windy road provided several beautiful lookout views.
The first waterfall of several on the Road to Hana was the Twin Falls. The fall itself wasn't that great, but the trail to the falls was quite interesting - there were several interesting flowers, banana trees, a water tunnel.
A few miles before Hana, is the Wai'anapanapa State Park. One could easily spend a couple of hours here watching the blow hole go off, relaxing on the black sand beach and crawling through a small cave.
Just beyond the Road to Hana, is the east entrance to Haleakala National Park. The Pipiwai trail at this entrance is a must do for anyone who loves a good nature trail. The trail takes you on a 4 mile round-trip hike with some amazing views and waterfalls. It started raining as soon as we started on the trail and by the time we were at the end, we were totally drenched. Close to the start of the trail was the Makahiku Falls plunging hundreds of feet off a green cliff into the valley below. Following that was the giant banyan tree with it's branches spread out. The branches were so huge that one could easily lie down on them and take a nap. A little further ahead was the entrance to the bamboo forest. The walk through the half-mile path through the thick bamboo forest was a one of a kind experience. On either sides of the path there was nothing but tall bamboos to be seen. Not even our pictures can justify how awesome the place was. At the end of the trail was the Waimoku Falls. Free-falling over 400 feet, the waterfall was well worth the hike through the rain.
Due to the number of stops we made on our way to the Pipiwai Trail, we got to the trail head well after noon and as a result could not spend as much time as we would have liked at the Waimoku Falls. It started getting dark by the time we started our drive back to our hotel in Ka'anapali and since we were driving back the same windy Road to Hana, the trip was a daring one for us. We should have probably driven straight to Pipiwai Trail in the morning and stopped at all the spots on the Road to Hana on our way back instead.
We highly recommend Maui visitors to spend a day driving the Road to Hana. If you are the kind that likes to relax and look out at the greenery, then there are also several tours that take you on this trip.
When we were looking into things that we should be doing in Maui, the Road to Hana was one of the most often mentioned activities. And it lived up to our expectations. The long and windy road provided several beautiful lookout views.
The first waterfall of several on the Road to Hana was the Twin Falls. The fall itself wasn't that great, but the trail to the falls was quite interesting - there were several interesting flowers, banana trees, a water tunnel.
A few miles before Hana, is the Wai'anapanapa State Park. One could easily spend a couple of hours here watching the blow hole go off, relaxing on the black sand beach and crawling through a small cave.
Just beyond the Road to Hana, is the east entrance to Haleakala National Park. The Pipiwai trail at this entrance is a must do for anyone who loves a good nature trail. The trail takes you on a 4 mile round-trip hike with some amazing views and waterfalls. It started raining as soon as we started on the trail and by the time we were at the end, we were totally drenched. Close to the start of the trail was the Makahiku Falls plunging hundreds of feet off a green cliff into the valley below. Following that was the giant banyan tree with it's branches spread out. The branches were so huge that one could easily lie down on them and take a nap. A little further ahead was the entrance to the bamboo forest. The walk through the half-mile path through the thick bamboo forest was a one of a kind experience. On either sides of the path there was nothing but tall bamboos to be seen. Not even our pictures can justify how awesome the place was. At the end of the trail was the Waimoku Falls. Free-falling over 400 feet, the waterfall was well worth the hike through the rain.
Due to the number of stops we made on our way to the Pipiwai Trail, we got to the trail head well after noon and as a result could not spend as much time as we would have liked at the Waimoku Falls. It started getting dark by the time we started our drive back to our hotel in Ka'anapali and since we were driving back the same windy Road to Hana, the trip was a daring one for us. We should have probably driven straight to Pipiwai Trail in the morning and stopped at all the spots on the Road to Hana on our way back instead.
We highly recommend Maui visitors to spend a day driving the Road to Hana. If you are the kind that likes to relax and look out at the greenery, then there are also several tours that take you on this trip.
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