My wife and I are planning to back to Maui in September. Although we've taken the "road to Hana" several times, we've always stopped at the 7 Sacred Pools and gone back the way we came. However I understand you can continue your drive around Haleakala and the drive is much shorter back to Wailea. But I've also heard the road is very hazardous. Are these roads just too bad to traverse or should we continue all the way around Haleakala back to Wailea?

Rental car companies advise against but everyone I meat apart from myself has done it. The landscape on the backside of Haleakala is breath taking. On first glance it looked like an old marlboro add to me, rugged and western. The first 1/4 mile is scary but not risky for a skilled driver, let's hope most of us are. I would not miss the craters and small gorges that you can see by going home this alternative route. P.S. my mother did that drive at 65 with friends that were a little under that. They still talk about it as the big thrill of their trip. GO FOR IT!!!

Very, very curvey road!!!! My sisters and I did it and had a great time but you must go slow. Get the tape to take with you.

Just got back from Maui and went on around the backside of the crater. The road is unpaved for about 6 miles, but very driveable. The road actually has been improved about halfway through. Go for it! No big deal... If you want a scary road try the road around the West side of Maui.

Read your rental car agreement first. Even the tourist maps warn you that driving beyond a certain point will void your contract. My question would be, do you feel lucky?

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Previous post puts it correctly: do you feel lucky? Should you get stuck and require a tow, you can be sure that the car rental agency is going to make you PAY big time!

I actually did not think the back side of the crater was bad at all. We were going kind of slow to enjoy the scenery. We were passed by several locals who were doing about 60mph in litlle cars-not 4 wheel drives. Go ahead and take that road. It is no big deal. According to the Maui Revealed book your car rental company will not cover you if you are driving on unimproved roads - i.e. 4 wheeling. According to Maui county the unpaved part of that road is improved every two weeks. I did not consider that road to be hazardous.