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northern portion of West Maui is a rather remote area, it takes about one
third of a day to circumvent West Maui. The road in this location is well
paved up until just after Honokohau, and reasonably well paved the rest of
the way to Waihee. However, there are portions of the road that are one
lane and on the sides of steep ravines, drive cautiously.
There are many points of interest in North West
Maui. As you travel from Kapalua one of the first interesting locations is
Nakalele, sometimes referred to as "Hobbit Land". This is a wind
swept overlook with knarled evergreen trees, wind swept rocks, and a great
view of northern Molokai. There are a number of stacks of balanced rocks
at Nakalele, hence the name "Hobbit Land". The rock stacking is
believed to have been started by local fishermen, a way to mark the path
to where they're fishing down the sea cliffs, the pratice caught on with
visitors who began stacking rocks too.
As
you pass Nakalele, but before you get to the Blow Hole you might catch
glimpses of the old "Kings' Highway", part of an ancient path
that once circled all of Maui. Parts of the path have fallen into the sea
or have been covered over with soil, but portions remain, you just need to
look carefully.
The Blowhole is a natural lava formation that shoots a column of sea
water out of it when the northern waves are striking the shoreline. The
Blowhole is difficult to find, you almost need to know where it is to
find it, but it can be glimpsed from the road.
After the Blowhole the next point of interest is
the quiet village of Kahakaloa. This is a small town little changed from
the Hawaii of years past, the village is nestled at the end of a long
narrow valley with a large rock formation on the eastern end of the bay.
Still travelling east the road becomes much
better, eventually you reach Waihee and then Wailuku.
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