Saddle Road
The only public facilities along Saddle Road make for an altogether pleasant stop. Clean restrooms and a playground with plenty of ropes to climb mean it's an excellent spot to stretch your legs and let antsy children exhaust themselves.
There are also seven cabins here with kitchenettes, shower and toilet stalls, and dining and living areas with walls that may or may not block the sound of the neighbors: a military training center that occasionally performs large-scale maneuvers.
28.34 MILES
Kilauea volcano lies at the center of activity in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The unassuming bump on Mauna Loa's southeast flank would be easily…
6.26 MILES
At 13,796ft in the air, you are above 40% of the atmosphere and 90% of its water vapor – apparently perfect conditions for growing the giant mushroom-like…
Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area
25.68 MILES
Hapuna Beach is world famous for its magnificent half-mile sweep of white powder sand and fabulously clear waters. In summer, waves are calm and allow…
27.94 MILES
The original Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook off Crater Rim Dr was closed in 2008 due to volcanic activity and the very real threat of death. For the next decade,…
Puʻukohola Heiau National Historic Site
27.46 MILES
By 1790 Kamehameha the Great had conquered Maui, Lanaʻi and Molokaʻi. But power over his home island of Hawaiʻi was a challenge. When told by a prophet…
29.87 MILES
Arguably Hilo's most beautiful spot, these sprawling Japanese gardens are perfect for picnicking. Named for Hawaii's last queen (r 1891–93), the 30-acre…
25.42 MILES
The island's best ‘tourist waterfall’ is found at this outstanding, family-friendly park. Walk the paved path counterclockwise, on a loop that traverses…
29.42 MILES
When 'Little Kilauea' burst open in a fiery inferno in November 1959, it filled the crater with a roiling lake of molten rock fed by a 1900ft fountain…
5.22 MILES
Quarries scattered over 7.5 sq miles produced tons of exceptionally dense and fine-grained basalt (dubbed Hawaiʻiite) used to make a tool similar to an ax…
5.38 MILES
For 100 years these pastures were filled with sheep, and that historical legacy is marked by nearby rock walls stacked by Japanese laborers and the Humu…
5.38 MILES
On an island with a conspicuous dearth of surface water, tiny Lake Waiʻau's existence on a porous lava mountain is something of an enigma. Hawaiian…
5.56 MILES
Just past Mile 4 on the east side of the summit road, a washed-out valley full of grayish glacial till and rocks is a dead ringer for the surface of the…
5.87 MILES
One of 10 identical radio receivers that span 5351 miles from Mauna Kea to St Croix, US Virgin Islands. The $85 million project went online in 1993 and…
6. James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
6.05 MILES
You can easily recognize the JCMT by the world's largest sheet of Gore-Tex® which covers the telescope allowing it to operate night and day. Its 49.2ft…
7. California Institute of Technology 10.4m Submillimeter Telescope (CSO)
6.08 MILES
Also known as the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, this telescope received its first light in 1986 and was shuttered in 2015. Observations of…
6.1 MILES
These eight 19.7ft radio telescopes work together (via supercomputer) to create image resolutions equal to an antenna 0.3 miles in diameter. The SMA…