Road to Hana Map: Every Stop in Order From Paia to Kipahulu

Before you decide what to skip, it helps to see the whole thing laid out. The Hana Highway is one road, about 100 km one way, with 620 curves and 59 bridges, most of them one lane. Nothing on this route loops back or branches off in a meaningful way for a day-tripper, so the landmarks below appear in the order you actually reach them, starting in Paia and ending at the Kipahulu district near Hana.

This is a map, not a schedule. For the driving-versus-guided-tour decision, see guided tour vs. self-drive. For an hour-by-hour plan, see the one-day itinerary. For gas stations and driving mechanics, see driving tips and gas stations.

The one fact that shapes everything else

There is no gas station between Paia and Hana. None. The last pump heading east is in Paia itself, or further back in Kahului. This single detail explains why the drive is planned as a full day rather than a quick morning loop: once you commit to the highway, you are committed for hours, with no fuel, limited cell signal, and few places to buy more than a snack. Hana town has one small store with short hours — not a supermarket, not a shopping center. Treat the drive as a day-long undertaking with the tank full before you start, not as a two-hour errand with photo stops.

Maui has no interstate highways at all — the Hana Highway (Route 360) is a state road, and it stays a state road the entire way, narrowing to one lane at each of its 59 bridges. That matters for planning because there is no faster alternate route once you commit: the only way back from Hana or Kipahulu is the same road you drove in on, or the long way around the island’s remote southeast shoulder toward Kaupo, which many rental agreements exclude entirely. See driving tips and gas stations for the mechanics of fuel and phone signal along the way, and how many days you actually need in Maui if you are still deciding whether to give this drive its own day or fold it into a longer stay.

What to pack before you leave Paia

Once you pass Hookipa there is nowhere reliable to buy sunscreen, so bring it before you leave. Maui County has banned the sale, distribution, and use of sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octinoxate, or octocrylene since October 1, 2022 — only mineral, zinc-based sunscreen is legal to wear on the island, and “I brought my own from home” does not exempt a non-mineral formula. Waterfall swimming spots along this route are exactly where that rule gets enforced by park and vendor staff, so check the label before you pack it. For a fuller list of what belongs in the car, see the Maui packing list; for the sunscreen rule itself, see the reef-safe sunscreen law explained.

Beyond sunscreen, bring cash in small bills for the roadside fruit and banana bread stands (many are unstaffed honor-system setups with no card reader), a swimsuit and towel if you plan to stop at any of the pools, and a downloaded offline map — cell signal drops out for long stretches past Huelo and does not reliably return until you approach Hana town.

Mile zero: Paia

The drive begins in Paia, a small surf town on Maui’s north shore that functions as the last real supply point. This is where you top off the gas tank, grab coffee or a plate lunch, and use a proper restroom before the one-lane bridges start. Just east of town, Hookipa is a lookout worth a short stop for its wind and big-wave surfing, not a beach for swimming or beginners — it is one of the world’s premier windsurfing and kitesurfing spots, and the water can be rough.

The first rainforest stretch: Huelo to Haiku

Past Hookipa, the highway narrows and starts its long run through rainforest. This stretch holds some of the most-visited waterfalls on the route:

Stop	What it is	Depth of coverage
Twin Falls	Roadside waterfall with a short walk, often the first big stop	Full guide
Huelo lookout	Ocean and cliff view, brief pullout	This page only
Hidden waterfalls near Haiku	Smaller cascades off the main pullouts	Full guide

Twin Falls draws heavy traffic because it is close to Paia and easy to reach, which also means crowded parking by mid-morning. This is the point on the drive where the one-lane bridges begin in earnest — yield to oncoming traffic, and expect to slow down often.

One-lane bridges: how they actually work

The Hana Highway crosses 59 bridges, and a large share of them carry only one lane of traffic in each direction. There is no traffic light and usually no attendant — the rule is simple courtesy: whichever car reaches the bridge first (or has the clearer approach) crosses, and the other side waits. Locals commuting the route do this dozens of times a week without incident, so slowing down, making eye contact with the oncoming driver, and waving them through when it is their turn keeps the whole highway moving. Rushing a bridge, or stopping mid-span for a photo, is the single most common source of the honking you will hear on this drive. Because the bridges are also where the road narrows and visibility drops, they are a bad place to be checking a paper map — this is another reason to have your route loaded before you leave Paia.

Deeper into the rainforest: Keanae and the peninsula

Further along, a short detour drops down to the Keanae Peninsula, a lava-rock shoreline dotted with a historic church and taro patches, where waves break hard against black rock. It is a lookout and a place to stretch your legs, not a swimming stop — the shorebreak here is dangerous. Back on the highway, roadside stands sell banana bread and fruit through this section; cash is useful since many are unstaffed honor-system stands.

Wailua and Nahiku

Continuing east, the highway passes Wailua, known for a small wayside lookout over a waterfall and taro terraces, and then Nahiku, a quiet former plantation community set back from the main road. Neither requires a long stop for most visitors, but both are worth slowing down for as the highway’s character shifts from tight rainforest curves toward more open coastal views. This middle section is also where cell signal becomes unreliable — download any map or directions before you reach it.

Hana town

The highway eventually opens up and reaches Hana itself, a small, quiet town that is easy to underestimate on a map. It has one gas station option nearby (often limited hours, do not count on it), a handful of food trucks and small eateries, and none of the resort infrastructure found in Kaanapali or Wailea. Hana is a place people stay overnight for a slower trip, not a hub built for day-trip crowds passing through. If you are continuing to Kipahulu, treat Hana as your last realistic stop for food and restrooms.

South of Hana: Waianapanapa and Kipahulu

Just past Hana town, Waianapanapa State Park holds Maui’s well-known black sand beach. Non-residents need a timed-entry reservation booked in advance through the state park system, plus a separate parking fee — there is no walk-up entry without one.

Continuing south, the highway enters the Kipahulu district of Haleakala National Park, a separate entrance from the summit and reached only by this coastal route — the two sections of the park do not connect by an internal road. Kipahulu is home to the Oheo Gulch pools and the Pipiwai Trail, a roughly 6 km round-trip hike through bamboo forest to Waimoku Falls. The pools close to swimming after heavy rain because of flash flood risk, so do not plan a visit around guaranteed access to the water.

Past Kipahulu, the highway keeps going around Maui’s remote southeast shoulder toward Kaupo, but the pavement deteriorates and many rental car contracts exclude this section. For a day trip, Kipahulu is a sensible place to turn around.

How the season changes what you see

Maui runs on two seasons rather than four: a dry season roughly from May through October, and a wetter one from November through April. On the Hana Highway that split shows up directly in the waterfalls — the rainforest stretch between Huelo and Haiku, along with the falls at Twin Falls and Pipiwai, generally runs fuller during the wetter months, while the dry season brings lower flow but a smaller chance that the Kipahulu pools close for flash-flood risk after a heavy rain.

Neither season rules out a visit; it changes what you should expect to see and how much flexibility to build into a turnaround time. For the island’s month-by-month patterns, see Maui weather by month. The central Pacific hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and while a direct hit on Maui is rare, a storm passing near the islands can bring the kind of heavy rain that closes Kipahulu to swimming for the day — see hurricane season in Maui, what to know if you are traveling in that window.

Putting the map to use

Seeing the full sequence — Paia, Hookipa, the Huelo-to-Haiku waterfalls, Keanae, Wailua, Nahiku, Hana town, Waianapanapa, and Kipahulu — makes clear why this is a full-day undertaking rather than a quick drive. Each named stop above has its own detailed guide for practical logistics; this page exists to show how they connect along the highway before you plan your hour-by-hour route.

The map above is also a useful filter when you are deciding what to skip rather than what to add. Because the highway is a single road with no shortcuts, every stop you choose adds time to both the outbound leg and the return, and the return drive after sunset on a road with 620 curves and no gas station is not a comfortable place to be running late. Most first-time visitors do better picking three or four stops from this list rather than all of them — Twin Falls plus Keanae plus Waianapanapa and Kipahulu is a realistic day, while adding Wailua, Nahiku, and every roadside pullout usually pushes the return past dark. If this drive is one piece of a longer trip, see how many days you need in Maui to weigh it against time spent in Kaanapali, Wailea, or up at Haleakala.

For travelers who want a local’s read on the drive rather than a checklist, the Road to Hana through the eyes of locals covers how residents who commute this highway regularly think about the stops, the traffic, and the etiquette that visitors sometimes miss.

If you would rather not drive the curves yourself, a few tour options cover different versions of this route. A guided van trip such as the Road to Hana tour that includes stops at waterfalls off the main tourist path removes the parking and navigation entirely. Travelers who want food included alongside the waterfall stops often choose the guided Road to Hana tour with a professional driver, food, and swimming stops. If you prefer to drive but want narrated context at each pullout, the GPS-guided audio driving tour you play from your own rental car works as a self-paced alternative. For a smaller group wanting an open-air ride through the rainforest sections, the private open-air jeep tour along the Road to Hana is worth comparing against a standard van.

Frequently asked questions about the Road to Hana stops

How many stops are there on the Road to Hana?

There is no fixed number. Dozens of pullouts, waterfalls, and lookouts line the highway, but most day-trippers realistically manage six to ten stops given the one-lane bridges and the length of the return drive.

Do the stops go in a strict order?

Yes, geographically. The highway is a single road east from Paia to Hana, so the landmarks above appear in the sequence you actually pass them, not in a ranked or curated order.

Is there a gas station between Paia and Hana?

No. The nearest stations are in Paia before you start and in Kahului. Fill the tank before leaving; running low mid-route is a common and avoidable mistake.

Can I see everything in one day?

Not comfortably. The round trip with stops takes a full day, and cramming in every waterfall and lookout on this map usually means arriving at Kipahulu too late or turning back early.

Where does the paved sightseeing road actually end?

Past Kipahulu, the highway continues around Maui’s southeast shoulder toward Kaupo, but it turns rough and is often excluded from rental agreements. Most visitors treat Kipahulu as the end point.

Which stops need a reservation?

Waianapanapa State Park requires a timed entry reservation for non-residents. The Kipahulu pools are inside Haleakala National Park and require the park entrance fee, and they close to swimming after heavy rain.

Are the waterfalls along the way on public land?

Not always. Several roadside cascades sit on private property where parking is prohibited. Respect posted signage in these residential communities rather than assuming every pullout is open access.

Do I need a 4x4 to drive this route?

No. A standard rental car handles the paved highway to Kipahulu without issue. Some rental contracts still restrict driving past Kipahulu toward Kaupo, so check the agreement rather than assume.