The Road to Hana is nice (made 2 round trips last summer, including one outbound leg in the dark) but its “scariness” is exaggerated if you’ve done any mountain driving at all. My buddy’s wife loved to go to Maui, but had talked him out of trying it because it was “too dangerous”.
I asked him “Remember Mineral King? That’s much worse.” Now he wished he’d tried it.
Mineral King Road in Sequoia National Parkin California’s Sierra Nevada range supposedly has 698 curves in 25 miles, has many single lane stretches, and is unpaved in sections.
many places that were obscure are now well known due to the web. There are steep drops at some parts of the road.
About an hour north of me there is a race track that was closed for a long time but now it’s open again. They have some races there and regular people can drive there a few times a year.
Did that road many times on my RZ350. One trip, I caught a mini-van at a perfect gentle S-curve, right-left-right. I pinned it, passed the van in a straight line across the apex of the left-hander, front wheel in the air! Good times!
Geiger Grade between Virginia City and Reno is a hoot. Lots of great roads around where I live.
Not sure how many curves, but over 50 miles long. Plus the surrounding forest roads to get there (from the north, south is right near Pasadena). If you want to make a day of it, you can cross the 15 and head out to Big Bear - also very nice curvy/mountainy roads.
Lots of fun roads out in that part of the country. In addition to Utah 12, there’s Utah 24 between Hanksville and Torrey, through Capitol Reef. Also Utah 95 from Hanksville down to Blanding. For high-speed sweepers, get on Utah route 72 at Loa and run it up to I-70. And then there’s the Million Dollar Highway in SW Colorado between Ouray and Silverton. Also Colorado route 92 from the Blue Mesa Dam to Crawford.
For a long time rentals weren’t supposed to continue past 'O’he’o Gulch waterfalls (aka Seven Sacred Pools) due to unpaved roads. We once rented a Jeep just to go see… only to find it a fully paved and leisurely drive. We’ve done it since with a regular car.
The only problem is you wind up in upcountry by the winery, so to get to the resorts you have to drive all the way through Pukalani and Kahului. It takes around the same amount of time, just less stressful. Not much to see for the first hour, either.
Oh, crap. I saw that once on Top Gear and I found myself leaning away from the edge…of the couch. I could hardly bear to watch. You must have nerves of steel.
We did the Tail of the Dragon a few years ago in a rented mini-van. It was unexpected – we just kind of came upon it. I gave the automatic transmission a workout.
When I was young, The Great Ocean Road Not gnarly, just a great m/c ride. Follows the fractal nature of the coast, but two-lane and the curves are wide enough that you can stay in your own lane.
Unfortunately, now dominated by hire cars, tour buses, towed caravans, and speed traps.
I’ve driven the Hana road probably 12+ times. It’s not scary at all, and if there’s been rain on the volcano there’s a waterfall at every bridge (52 total). And since the Kaupo road got fixed, I’ve circumnavigated once, which was quite cool. The view when you cross the shoulder of the volcano looking down at the south Maui coast is amazing.
Re Hana, I have a buddy that used to borrow a friends seldom-used house in Kipahulu near O’heo Gulch past Hana, and my ex and I would stay in the guest house. Amazing, serene country on the lee side of a 10,000 foot volcano. “Lush” doesn’t even begin to describe it. My bud now lives in Tokyo with his wife and I visit, but I’ve been meaning to go back to south Maui one day. Good memories there.
Yes that one was really amazing, varied scenery plus the curvy nature of the road, often along a narrow ridge. Also we had to stop for free range cattle on the road. We drove it last May, with newly fallen snow in the higher elevations but the road was dry and warm enough to have fun with the summer tires. On a long trip to seek out fun roads (for our BMW M2) as well as hike in national parks. As mentioned, there are lots of great roads in UT, and that general part of the country, but UT-12 will be a lasting memory.
We were going to drive Dragon’s Tail last month but for various reasons postponed. Might now wait to put the summer tires back on before we go.