To say the sign above is an understatement is in itself an understatement. Wait, did that make sense? Let’s just say that the drive around the West Maui Mountains has some treacherous areas. The road remains a single lane with hairpin turns twisting around seemingly bottomless shear drop-offs for a good 10 miles. If a car approaches from the opposite direction you have to do your best to pull about 5 inches from the edge so they can just squeak by. There were several miles where two cars simply can not pass, so you may find yourself driving in reverse until you can find a tiny slice of land to occupy. We witnessed many hilarious terrified reactions from passengers in passing cars.

Danger aside, it was one of the most spectacular drives we have ever been on. In fact, even the dangerous drive added to the adventure. Most tourists will opt for the “road to Hana” so the drive around the West Maui Mountains remains somewhat under the radar and we saw very few people along the way. At times the landscape looks like the northern coast of California and then the next thing you know it looks like the Southwest. Most of the land is owned by cattle ranches but a few isolated houses occasionally dot the hills.

The coast has very few beaches and is mostly green hills overlooking tall cliffs that get pounded by big blue north shore waves. The endless view of the ocean was beautiful and the air was perfectly fresh, except for the occasional cattle ranch smell. The entire drive took about 5 hours and it was amazing the entire way.

We took too many photos but here’s my attempt at editing them down. I’m going to start working on editing the video next.