Hana Highway

The Hana Highway (colloquially referred to as The Road to Hana) is a 64.4-mile-long (103.6 km) stretch of Hawaii Routes 36 and 360 which connects Kahului to the town of Hana in east Maui. To the east of Kalepa Bridge, the highway continues to Kipahulu as Hawaii Route 31 (the Piilani Highway). Although Hana is only about 52 miles (84 km) from Kahului, an uninterrupted car-trip takes about 2.5 hours to drive, since the highway is very winding, narrow, and passes over 59 bridges, of which 46 are only one lane wide.[6] There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hana, almost all of it through lush, tropical rainforest. Many of the concrete and steel bridges date back to 1910 and all but one are still in use. That one bridge, badly damaged by erosion, has been replaced by a portable steel ACROW or Bailey bridge erected by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Hana Highway

Hana Millennium Legacy Trail
Hana Highway highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by HDOT
Length64.4 mi[1][2][3] (103.6 km)
Component
highways		 Route 36 from Kahului to Haiku-Pauwela
Route 360 from Haiku-Pauwela to Kalepa Gulch
Major junctions
West end Route 32 in Kahului
East end Route 31 in Haleakalā Nat'l Park
Location
CountryUnited States
StateHawaii
CountiesMaui
Highway system
← Route 32B→ Route 36A
← Route 340→ Route 361
Hana Belt Road
The Hana Highway Millennium Trail Monument and the Zero Mile Marker (under the Adopt-a-Highway sign) at the Junction of Route 36/360/365.
Nearest cityMakawao, Hawaii
Coordinates20°53′52″N 156°13′20″W
Area153 acres (62 ha)
Built1900
Architectural styleBasalt arch, et al.
NRHP reference No.01000615[4]
HRHP No.50-50-va-01638[5]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 15, 2001
Designated HRHPApril 20, 2001
Wailua Valley State Wayside along the Road To Hana.

In August 2000, the highway was designated as the Hana Millennium Legacy Trail by President Bill Clinton, with the trail start designated in Pāʻia.[6] The Hana Highway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 15, 2001.[4]

Route description

Hana Highway consists of Hawaii Routes 36 and 360. Route 36 is a mixture of urban street, divided highway, and high-speed rural highway. Route 360 is a narrow and winding mountain road. Mileposts in tourist guides refer to mile markers on Route 360, not Route 36.

Route 36 begins in Kahului and the junction of Routes 32 and 311, and the road named Hana Highway begins one block east. The highway runs east as a four-lane divided highway, intersecting with Routes 380, 3800 which serve Kahului Airport to the north and connect to Maalaea and West Maui to the south. A short distance east, it intersects Route 37, which serves Haleakala to the south. East of this point, the highway becomes a two-lane rural highway, passing through Pa'ia and Ha'iku. Highway 36 ends at Route 365 east of Haiku, while the Hana Highway continues as Route 360.

Highway 360 is a narrow, winding, and low speed mountain highway. Its initial junction is marked as Mile Zero at Route 36, and the highway runs in a southeasterly direction toward Hana. This highway includes numerous one-lane stretches of roadway, including one-lane bridges. The road provides access to the community of Keanae, Wailua, and Nahiku, arriving at Hana at mile 34. The highway then turns to the west and continues as Route 31.

Tourism

The Hana Highway is a popular tourist attraction in Maui. Guidebooks often devote large sections to traveling the highway leading to the eastern side of Maui, documenting the many waterfalls and attractions that can be found along the way. Some of these attractions lie within or through private property and will often have "no trespassing" signs posted or even signs claiming that the attraction does not exist. All beaches in Hawaii are public. Some guidebooks document the "keep out" areas and ways past barbed wire fences and locked gates to reach attractions.

Beyond the town of Hana, the Hana Highway becomes Hawaii State Road 330 and leads to the ʻOheʻo Gulch where the Seven Sacred Pools are located within the Kipahulu Area of the Haleakala National Park.

Occasionally the dirt road past Route 31 is closed to traffic due to landslides.

Scenic turnouts abound, including one for Wailua Falls near the Seven Sacred Pools in Oheʻo.

History

In the sixteenth century, Maui's King Pi'ilani conquered East Maui and drew Hana into his political sphere. Pi'ilani built the Alaloa, the "long road," from West Maui, a road on which travelers reportedly swung themselves over East Maui's rushing streams with ropes made of vines. Later, Piilani's son, Kihapiilani, extended the Alaloa into the Hana District. When completed, the road was 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m) wide, 138 miles (222 km), and paved with hand-fitted basalt (lava) rocks.[7] Modern road construction to Hana began in the 1870s, with an unpaved road built to facilitate the construction of the Hämäkua Ditch. Part of The East Maui Irrigation System, the Hämäkua Ditch brought water from the rainforests of Haleakalā to semi-arid central Maui to support the sugarcane industry.[8]

Road construction continued in the early 1900s and was extended piecemeal until the full road to Hana was officially opened on December 18, 1926. Construction of bridges continued through the 1930s and the road was not completely paved until the 1960s.[7]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Maui County.

Locationmi[1][2][3]kmDestinationsNotes
Kahului0.00.0 Route 32 (Kaahumanu Avenue)Northern terminus of Route 36, western terminus of Hana Highway
0.20.32
 Route 32A north (Hobron Avenue)		No southbound access, southern terminus of Route 32A
0.60.97
 Route 36A east (Haleakala Highway)		Western terminus of Route 36A
0.91.4 Route 380 (Dairy Road) – Kihei, Lahaina
1.21.9 Route 3800 (Airport Access Road) – Airport, Kihei, Lahaina
2.94.7 Route 37 (Haleakala Highway) – Pukalani, Makawao, Kula, Haleakala Crater
Paia6.710.8Baldwin Avenue – Makawao
​16.226.1
 Route 365 south (Kaupakalua Road)
Route 36 / Route 360		Northern terminus of Route 365
Eastern terminus of Route 36, western terminus of Route 360
Keanae32.852.8Keanae Road – Keanae
Hana47.676.6 Alalele Road – Hana Airport
48.177.4Honokalani Road – Waianapanapa State Park
49.980.3Uakea Road – Hana Bay
50.681.4Keawa Place – Hana BayFormer terminus of state maintenance
Hamoa Beach52.484.3Haneoo Road – Hamoa Beach, Koki Beach
Haleakala National Park60.797.7Haleakala National Park – Kipahulu AreaAccess to Oheʻo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools)
Kalepa Gulch64.4103.6Kalepa Bridge

 Route 31 west (Piilani Highway)		Eastern terminus of Route 360 and the Hana Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  • Section of highway between Nahiku and Waianapanapa State Park
    Section of highway between Nahiku and Waianapanapa State Park
  • Waterfalls adjacent to Hana Highway
    Waterfalls adjacent to Hana Highway
  • Aerial view of highway
    Aerial view of highway
  • Wailua Falls
    Wailua Falls
  • Upper Waikani Falls Maui Hawaii
    Upper Waikani Falls Maui Hawaii
  • Hana Lava tube Maui, Hawaii
    Hana Lava tube Maui, Hawaii
  • Highway between Haiku and Kaipahulu
    Highway between Haiku and Kaipahulu
  • Waianapanapa black sand beach next to Hana
    Waianapanapa black sand beach next to Hana
  • Kahanu garden old house Maui, Road to Hana
    Kahanu garden old house Maui, Road to Hana
  • Hana, Maui
    Hana, Maui
  • Haipua'ena Falls, located along the famed Road to Hana
    Haipua'ena Falls, located along the famed Road to Hana

See also

References
  1. Google (August 28, 2014). "Hana Highway (1)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  2. Microsoft; Nokia (August 28, 2014). "Hana Highway (2)" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  3. Google (August 28, 2014). "Hana Highway (3)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  5. "Historic Register Counts". Hawai'i State Historic Preservation Division. State of Hawaii. February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  6. Kubota, Gary T. (October 27, 2000). "On the road to... Hana". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  7. Duensing, Dawn (Summer 2005). "Hana Belt Road" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  8. Duensing, Dawn (2007). "The Hana Belt Road: Paving the Way for Tourism" (PDF). Hawaiian Journal of History. Hawaiian Historical Society. 41. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
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← Route 340→ Route 361
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