Hana travel planner: activities, restaurants, and lodging

There are said to be 54 bridges on the road to Hana, and I always intend to count them. But once again I'm distracted by the impossible beauty of this torturously twisting, narrow road that runs 44 miles from Paia to Hana. Somebody with a bean counter's soul has probably tabulated the waterfalls, as well. I just try to spot them all.

Early afternoon is the perfect time to go if you intend, as I do, to spend a night or two. By then, visitors who've made the killer day trip (from most resorts a six-hour round trip, minimum) are beginning to straggle back.

Tucked between the highway and its placid, horseshoe-shaped harbor, Hana is about as low-key as Maui villages come. The town's old plantation-style homes, a couple of quirky B&Bs, and even the posh Hotel Hana-Maui all look like they've always been here – and seem invitingly impervious to change.

One continually improving attraction is Kahanu Gardens, a branch of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Hana native Arnold Lono has worked here for 18 years with his father, Francis, who recently retired after 30 years. In the Hawaiian tradition, Arnold is now taking over the stewardship of the garden's cultural resources. The garden contains a remarkable collection of some 178 cultivars of breadfruit, but as we walk through the 123-acre site, Lono stresses its cultural heritage.

"At one time this must have been an important place, with several thousand Hawaiians living in the Hana area," Lono says, pointing out new plantings for what he calls a canoe garden – a plot containing the plants the early Hawaiians brought with them from Polynesia. But what really makes Kahanu Gardens a must for visitors is the view of Pi'ilanihale Heiau, the largest ancient Hawaiian temple in the state. The recently restored, 45-foot-tall temple may be as much as 800 years old, and it is still considered sacred.

Splash your brother, then run down the black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park.

After your stroll through the garden, head for the beach. The choices are incomparably scenic: the black sand beach (dangerous when surf is up) at Wai'anapanapa State Park just north of town, the beach park (typically the safest swimming) in town on Hana Bay, and the white sands of my favorite, Hamoa Beach, south of town.

I get up early my last morning in Hana to beat the traffic to waterfalls and swimming holes in Oheo Gulch in Kipahulu in the coastal arm of Haleakala National Park. The trailhead parking at the Kipahulu Visitor Center is nearly empty, and I see only a few other hikers on the 1.8-mile trail up through guava groves and bamboo forests to Waimoku Falls. On the hike back, I detour down the trail toward the ocean and the series of deep pools in the lower canyon that are perfect for an after-hike dip.

About 4 miles beyond Kipahulu, the road narrows even more as the pavement ends, then winds slowly beneath high bluffs for 2.4 miles to the turnoff to Hui Aloha Church. It is is the perfect place for a picnic: a windswept promontory with stunning views and a simple church dedicated in 1859. The surprise as you drive here is how quickly the vegetation changes in the rain shadow of Haleakala. A mile farther down the road is Kaupo General Store, an outpost built in 1925, and the only stop for a cold drink – and not much else – beyond Hana.

This stretch of road used to regularly wash out in hard rains, but a couple of recently built bridges have solved most of that problem. I roll down the dusty window to let the afternoon heat pour in and to better watch the sere coast fall away as I slowly angle up the rugged flank of Haleakala, eventually looping back to Kahului.

More: Magical Maui