road to hana & beyond

staying in kihei..so thinking of leaving at 5:30am just to get a head start. don%26#39;t want to stop at every site so im going to make a list. anyways...i was reading ';maui revealed'; and read you can drive through the back side of haleakala instead of drivng all the back on the road to hana. has anyone done this and if yes how long does it take. was it worth it? just thought since we are starting early enough maybe we can see haleakala too.

thanks!

road to hana %26amp; beyond

You can take the Pi`ilani Highway back around upcountry, but you won%26#39;t be able to see Haleakala (as in the summit) in the same day without being extremely rushed.

If you look at a map, you can see the Hana Highway turns into the South Hana Highway just beyond Hana town, and then into the Pi`ilani Highway (31) a little further down. This is the road that was closed after the 2006 quake, but has been reopened. It%26#39;s broken pavement in places, but you can easily make the drive if it hasn%26#39;t been extremely wet (check with the rangers at the Gulch). It eventually turns into Highway 37 (Kula Highway) upcountry, which is near where you can take Highway 378 to the summit (but that%26#39;s another day trip).

I always recommend folks take two days for the Hana Highway, but if you skip several of the smaller stops - one day is doable. See the other post you made for the link I gave that provides rankings for each stop. You might could even hike Pipiwai at the Gulch if you got there before 1pm or so.

road to hana %26amp; beyond

Here%26#39;s a PDF file that shows you the route:

hawaii-guide.com/images/large_downloadables/…

JC,

So if we were going to go to points beyond Hana, would it be preferable to just continue on around? Or better to go back through Hana again?

Once you%26#39;re at the Gulch, if the rangers say it%26#39;s safe to continue, I%26#39;d go for it. The views are pretty neat to contrast from the other side of the island - it%26#39;s grassland out there. Some great views of Haleakala%26#39;s Kaupo gap too. Be prepared for some wind - I%26#39;ve seen it get pretty strong out there. The road is a little rough in spots, but it%26#39;s not off-roading or anything. Eventually the road will turn into paved highway (you can help but notice the change). From there on it%26#39;s paved until you%26#39;re upcountry and heading back into central Maui. If you time it right and get around the last ridge in time, you can even watch the sun set upcountry - which is an amazing sight.

Thanks....we will go around if it is allowed. We have your Mile by Mile book, which we used last year for the stops leading up to Hana. Beautiful, and the book was so helpful. So this time we want to drive pretty much straight to Hana, and then do the stops beyond.we arrive in Maui on Sunday, so we%26#39;ll be there before we know it.....can%26#39;t wait! Thanks again for your response.

Mdyblue- I responded tonight to your msg regarding the HikeMaui tour we took to Hana. On this tour, we enjoyed the ';back side'; from Hana. As noted above, the scenery is very different. I would NOT drive this road in a small compact car since the road is very, very rough in some places. But it was fine in a van (especially with someone else driving and dodging the potholes).

As JC noted, the view is very different than the main, tropical Road to Hana. It also does not dramatically change after every turn. You could get a nice taste of that side of the island by going to (or a little beyond) the Ulupalakua Ranch (we loved the grill-restaurant, there is also a winery). Visiting the ranch is easily doable after going up Haleakala. Perhaps go up the mountain in the morning and then go to Ulupalakua for lunch (but bring a snack - when you are hungry the road to the ranch seems to take forever).