Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [322]
Waterfalls
The picture-perfect Three Bears Falls, 0.5 miles past the 19-mile marker, takes its name from the triple cascade on the inland side of the road. Catch it after a rainstorm and it roars as one mighty falls. There’s a small turnout with parking for a few cars right before crossing the bridge.
Pua′a Ka′a State Wayside Park spreads along both sides of the highway 0.5 miles after the 22-mile marker. Some unlucky folks just see the rest rooms on the ocean side of the road and miss the rest. But you brought your beach towel, didn’t you? Cross the highway and head inland to find a pair of delicious waterfalls cascading into pools. The best for swimming is the upper pool, visible just beyond the picnic tables. To reach it, you’ll need to cross the stream, skipping across a few rocks, but it’s nothing daunting.
Hanawi Falls, which is 0.1 miles after the 24-mile marker, has a split personality. Sometimes it flows gently into a quiet pool and sometimes it gushes wildly across a broad rockface. No matter the mood, it’s always a beaut.
Most waterfall views look up at the cascades, but Makapipi Falls offers a rare chance to experience an explosive waterfall from the top. Makapipi makes its sheer plunge right beneath your feet as you stand on the ocean side of the Makapipi Bridge. The falls is 0.1 miles after the 25-mile marker; you’ll find pull-offs before and after the bridge.
Nahiku
While the village of Nahiku is down on the coast (see the boxed text, Click here), its tiny ‘commercial’ center – such as it is – is right on the Hana Hwy, 0.8 miles past the 28-mile marker. Here you’ll find a little coffee shop, fruit stand and BBQ eatery clustered together.
EATING
Up in Smoke (Hana Hwy; snacks $3-6; 10am-5pm Fri-Wed) This bustling BBQ stand is the place to try smoked breadfruit and kalua pig tacos, all cooked with kiawe wood. Hawaiian food never tasted better.
′Ula′ino Road
′Ula′ino Rd begins at the Hana Hwy just south of the 31-mile marker. Hana Lava Tube is half a mile from the highway and Kahanu Garden a mile further.
HANA LAVA TUBE
One of the odder sights on this otherwise lushly green drive are these mammoth caves ( 248-7308; www.mauicave.com; admission $12; 10:30am-4pm) formed by ancient lava flows. The caves are so formidable that they once served as a slaughterhouse – 17,000lb of cow bones had to be removed before they were opened to visitors! Winding your way through the extensive underground lava tubes, which reach heights of 40ft, you’ll find a unique ecosystem of stalactites and stalagmites. The admission includes flashlights and hard hats.
KAHANU GARDEN
These extraordinary gardens ( 248-8912; www.ntbg.org; self-guided/guided tour $10/25; self-guided tour 10am-2pm Mon-Fri, guided tour 10am-noon Sat) deliver a double blast of mana. Hawaii’s largest temple and Maui’s most important ethnobotanical garden share this 294-acre site operated by the National Tropical Botanical Garden. The gardens preserve rare and medicinal plants from the tropical Pacific, the world’s largest breadfruit tree collection, and a canoe garden containing plants brought to Hawaii by early Polynesian settlers.
In the grounds, Pi′ilanihale Heiau is an immense structure with a stone platform 450ft in length. The history of this ancient temple is shrouded in mystery, but there’s no doubt it was an important religious site for Hawaiians. Archaeologists believe construction began as early as AD 1200 and the heiau was built in sequences. The final grand scale was the work of Pi′ilani (the heiau’s name means House of Pi′ilani), the 14th-century Maui chief who constructed many of the coastal fishponds in east Maui. The gardens and heiau, on Kalahu Point, are 1.5 miles down ′Ula′ino Rd. The road is crossed by a streambed immediately before the gardens; if it’s dry you should be able to drive over it, but if it’s been raining heavily don’t try.
Wai′anapanapa State Park
Sun on a black-sand beach, swim in a cave, walk an ancient trail – a bounty of sights await at this fascinating park. If you’re lucky,