On Friday, we made the famous trek to Hana. It’s a small town on the other side of Maui. The town in itself is not the point of the trip. The trip is the point of the trip. It’s about 45 miles of 600 hairpin turns and 52 one-lane bridges past gorgeous scenery. Because of the twist and turns, however, it is an all-day affair!

We rented a convertible, brought our GPS, iPod, and plenty of drinks/snacks. The road has so many picture points that you may find yourself stopping every 10 minutes… only to realize you’ll never make it to Hana. So, pace yourself. There are tons of waterfalls. If it’s been raining (like it did for days before our trip) the waterfalls will be even bigger.

On the winding road to Hana, we pulled into the Garden of Eden… This tropical garden boast some spectacular scenes, loads of wildlife and some famous (although we don’t know them and you probably don’t either) birds!

If you find yourself with a few extra minutes on the Road to Hana… this detour is worth it. Its an inexpensive admission to beautifully landscaped garden. The wildlife is a definite plus…

Once we arrived in Hana, we moved on… There isn’t really much to see. We ate at the Hana Hotel’s restaurant. It looks nice, has a great view, but the food was overpriced and not that good. However, we left Hana and continued down the road to view the Seven Pools. Of the four plus hours of driving, this last 30 minutes was the best. On this segment, you get to see beautiful homes (not the $$$ homes, but homes of regular Hawaiians). Moreover, the scenery converts to rolling hills by the coast and wildlife, and cattle abounds.

The Seven Pools themselves are amazing. Years of erosion have created seven distinct pools that water flows into, out of, and into the next pool. When the rains are too heavy, you can actually get in the pools. When we went, it was hard to distinguish the pools from whitewater. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.

The Road to Hana was our favorite part of our visit to Maui! Here are some pictures from our trip: