Saddle Road
Saddle Road, Hawaii, is considered among the most spectacular roads in the world. This is 55-mile drive of a chance of a lifetime experience. Hawaii’s Route 200 goes through all four of her climates – tropical forests, arid desert, lush grasslands and misty mountaintop fog. Between miles 19 and 23, you’ll see a few places with lava flows and young vegetation and trees. Near the road you can see where lava thickened and left the telltale mounds of a slowing flow. Just after mile 23, you’ll come close to a popular local landmark, Pu`u Huluhulu, which is an older Mauna Kea cinder cone, or kīpuka, and it’s surrounded by younger lava flows. At this point, you’re near the peak height for Saddle Road, about 1.25 miles in elevation – 6,632 feet. From here, you’ll continue through the volcanic aftermath of hundreds of thousands of years of lava activity as you head toward Belt Road, where you’ll eventually descend into Kona or Waikoloa.