Category: Overlanding

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Overlanding Travel

Bruce Peninsula National Park

This trip took our little DIY teardrop international! We headed off to Bruce Peninsula National Park in Ontario Canada. Typically we like to find our own free camping, outside of campgrounds. The Bruce Peninsula is mostly National Park or private land so that wasn’t going to work this time.

We decided to stay at Cyprus Lake Campground in the National Park it’s self. There are a few other campgrounds in the area around Tobermory however camping at Cyprus lake gets you access to the Grotto and other hiking trails. If you are not staying here you will have to reserve your spot to park and hike to the Grotto. You will have a specific time slot that you’re allowed to park.

What we didn’t know ahead of time was that you will need to pay for parking and/or reserve your parking spot ahead of time in order to access all of the popular spots/hikes in the area. This is true May through October in the popular months for tourism in the area. The Bruce Peninsula and Tobermory are small areas, not set up for the boom of popularity/visitors they receive. Parking is often limited so that is why you will need to reserve. It is a relatively new issue for the area. This article gives more context. Even staying at Cyprus Lake only gives you access to that part of the park. If you want to explore around the visitors center for the park you will need to pay for parking and we believe an additional occupancy fee.

It is very understandable that they are adding fees and limiting access. Over-tourism is clearly a big issue for this area. We know we are part of the problem as we try to travel as cheap as possible and we are now promoting this area as a destination. When you visit, do so responsibly , respect the locals and their land.

We always try to travel for cheap and were pretty shocked that hikes were going to cost us additional fees. We had plans to visit most of the big name sites you’ll read about ahead of time (Lion’s Head Lookout, Devil’s Monument, Big Tub lighthouse are a few examples) but once we realized the extra costs we quickly changed our plans. Parking at Lion’s Head was going to cost $20-30 for a 4 hour time slot and that had to be reserved ahead of time. Most parking is not quite that expensive. Most places have a $3 per hour pricing. We honestly can say, we found travel to Hawaii via camper van was cheaper than travel to the Bruce Peninsula via our trailer.

All this being said, we loved the Bruce Peninsula! It is so beautiful and well worth a visit. We will share with you how to experience it without spending lots of extra money on fees!

Staying at Cyprus lake we had access to alot of trails and popular spots. Book your spot ahead of time for the campground, they are reservation only during the popular months (May-October) and will fill up. We found Cyprus lake to be one of the nicest campgrounds we have ever stayed at. We stayed in the Poplars section of the campground. We chose a corner spot for more privacy but honestly all the sites are pretty well sized. There are plenty of trees to offer privacy and there is space between the sites so you won’t be on top of other campers.

From your campsite you can walk towards the trailheads and hike to the Grotto, Natural Arch, Indian Head Cove and Overhanding Point. We set off hiking early in the morning to see these popular spots with less of a crowd. You can easily see these sites in a short morning hike. We were back at our campsite by noon. After a quick lunch and changing into our swim suits we headed back to Indian Head Cove for a swim. This was really the highlight of our trip! The water was cold but we got in and swam to the Natural Arch and the Grotto. Unfortunately we didn’t bring the GoPro so we don’t have any photos or video from under the arch or in the Grotto.

We had brought our inflatable stand up paddle board on this trip. We didn’t end up bringing it to Indian Head Cove because it is still a pretty big backpack to carry and it was a bit of a walk from our campsite. If you are willing to carry your gear this would be a great spot to paddle board. The water is so clear! Definitely bring your mask, snorkel and fins. From inside the Grotto there is a hole that you can swim down and trough, leading to outside the cave.

The following day, instead of paying for Lion’s Head or the other trails we had read about we chose to stay in the area around the campground. We had already paid for our campsite and access to this area and there were more trails to explore! We headed towards Stormhaven and High Dump which are two backcountry camping areas. You can hike in this direction along the Bruce Trail which follows the coast fairly closely in this section and offers many view points/lookouts along the cliffs. We really enjoyed our hike in this section of the park. It is also alot less crowded but the views are just as good as anywhere else we hiked!

After our morning hike along the Bruce Trail our second day we decided to head to Tobermory and wander the harbor and get some food. It will cost you the $3 an hour pricing for parking in the town or on the streets around the town. Getting there mid-afternoon it was very busy! We parked a short walk from town and took our time walking along the harbor, looking at the boats.

We really wanted to find access to see the water and Big Tub Harbor. There is a lot of private property so it isn’t as easy as we hoping. We did finally find that at the end of Highway 6 there is access! You’ll need to walk by the Glass Bottom Flowerpot Island Boat tours office/dock. From there, there is a small path down to the water where you will get views of the Big Tub lighthouse and Big Tub Harbor. The path is actually on the Church’s property but they allow you to access it during the day.

You can also park at the Lighthouse (paying again for this) and walk out to the lighthouse for closer views. We also read this is a nice spot to swim. It was very windy and wavy the second day of our trip so we opted to just take in the views of the lighthouse from the free path.

Tobermory its self is a very small town. There are a few shops and restaurants around the harbor. We ate at a couple places during our trip.

Shipwrek Lee’s- The fried fish here was very good! Other than the fish it wasn’t anything special. They gave us little packets of Kraft tartar sauce to accompany our fish and chips. It isn’t fancy but worth a visit for the fish.

Coconut Joe’s- We enjoyed the fish and chicken tacos here. Why we really chose this place was so we could sit outside right along the water and watch the kayaker’s and boaters come in and out of the harbor. We were also hoping to see the Ferry come in. The Ferry goes from Tobermory to/from South Baymouth. We did watch it come in and out while we had dinner. You can see them unload and load the cars from the restaurant.

The Sweet Shop- The fudge here was so good! We enjoyed an ice cream sunday while we wandered the harbor. Well worth a visit!

Our final stop on our last morning was to the visitors center. You can access more trails from the visitors center as well as a 65 ft tall viewing tower that gives great views of the surrounding islands. The visitors center is a short walk from downtown Tobermory. You are supposed to pay for parking here as well and it appears you are also supposed to pay a park entrance/occupancy fee. There we signs at the start of the trail indicating you needed to have your park access pass. We showed up before 9am to find the actual visitors center building not open yet and the parking meter had a sign on it saying “out of order- enjoy the trails”. We were so excited! Free parking and entrance! We walked up the viewing tower and then hiked the Burnt Point loop trail. The views from the end of Burnt Point are well worth the short hike. It was a perfect way to end our trip!

We can’t wait to come back to this area and explore more. We have been daydreaming of seeing Resande on anchor in these gorgeous bays ever since we arrived to the Bruce Peninsula! We will be back in this area as cruisers soon!

Tell us what we missed? What do we need to see and do when we make it back to this area? Leave us a comment below!

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Overlanding

Epic Utah Road Trip

Utah is known for the Mighty Five; its five National Parks- Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. We were on a mission to see the beautiful red rock canyons that are so different than what we typically see in Michigan. Since our drive to get out west is so long we decided to cut Bryce Canyon and Zion out from our trip. Taking our time, enjoying ourselves, and seeing the beauty of the area is more important to us than crossing off all the National Parks from a “bucket list”. Of course, the two parks we didn’t visit are amazing and we would love to visit someday. But, for this particular trip,  we were very happy with our decision.

We started at Capitol Reef, the furthest west we were going to travel and from there made our way back east.

Capitol Reef 

Our favorite part of this area was actually driving NOTOM road to Burr trail road. This road is at the east entrance to the park. You basically circumnavigate the park- passing through Boulder and then through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The road turns to dirt and is pretty bumpy/washbaordy for about a total of 18 miles. Our little teardrop did see some minor damage. We had to screw several things back into place but the drive was worth it! You go up a set of switchbacks and end up in a high desert plane. From the red rocks, you enter white rocks with juniper and sage bushes everywhere. The landscape continues to change as you drive. From there you will end up in an alpine, aspen forest and then come back down into the red rocks. The views along the way are amazing! 

We spent two nights on this road. The first night we stayed a few miles before Boulder. We had the camping spot to ourselves with a spectacular view of the red rocks cliffs above us. Right after our camping spot, we entered Long Canyon. We hiked a small slot canyon the next morning and we were the only ones there. We also hiked to what was supposed to be a waterfall on the map but was dry the time of year we were there.

We got to Boulder late morning. There isn’t much in this small town, but there is a coffee shop and a grill with good food. It’s also the only area we had cell service or got any wifi. It is a good place to stop in if you need to do anything or download any additional maps. 

Our second night we stayed on this road was in the alpine area of the trail. We had great views down, overlooking Capitol Reef and all the beautiful canyons and once again had the camping area all to ourselves. Highly recommend this drive if you are visiting Capitol Reef. 

Within the park itself, it’s self we did do several great hikes. We really enjoyed the hike to the Pioneer registry and the tanks. The tanks were dry during our visit.  We also hiked the Grand wash to Cassidy arch. We were intrigued by the fact that there was an arch and didn’t do much research ahead of us starting to hike. You can actually park closer to the Cassidy arch hike or you can park and do the Grand wash which will take you to the trailhead for the arch. The Grand wash hike is about 3 miles. After that, it is 1.5 to the arch but what we didn’t realize is that the 1.5 miles are basically all uphill. It is a challenging hike and we did not have enough water. We made it about 1 mile, to a spot with the best view of the actual arch. The hike continues to the top of the arch but we decided to turn back after getting a view since we had several miles to go to get back to our car. Our favorite hike in the park was probably the Natural Bridge hike. There is a small bridge and then further up the trail, about a mile is the larger natural bridge.

Another must within the park is to get a pie in Fruita at the store/museum that is near the visitor center. Very good, get there early before they run out. We stopped in about 10:30-11 am and they were almost out completely!

Goblin Valley State Park

Our next stop was Goblin Valley State Park and staying the night at some BLM land just outside the park. We arrived late afternoon after a pretty full morning of hiking. The park was cool to walk through however we felt the $20 entrance fee was a bit high. We were expecting it to be less.  The main area here is the Valley of the Goblins. You can get a good feel for it after walking around 45 min to an hour.  We were able to top off our water tank at the campground in the park which was nice, much less crowded than at any of the national parks. Overall we enjoyed it but can’t really say it’s worth the cost.

Dead Horse State Park

We had planned to visit Capitol Reef at the Island in the sky entrance which is the closest to Moab. We got there late AM, maybe 10:00. We waited in a very long line of cars that were not moving for about an hour. We couldn’t even see the pay/ranger station so decided to turn around. About 4 miles back was the turn-off and entrance for Dead Horse state park so we decided to visit there instead.  We had a great afternoon hike around the entire canyon- about a 5-mile hike. We had beautiful views and much less of a crowd to deal with. The entrance fee here is also $20 but there are more hiking options so we felt this park was worth the cost.

Arches

We knew now that the National Parks close to Moab were going to be packed. So we woke up super early. We had also been told by a few people to do the Delicate Arch hike at sunrise so that is what we did. We had no line to get into the park and easily found a parking spot at the Delicate Arch parking lot. We would highly recommend doing this hike early in the morning or in the evening. There is no shade and this hike would be very hot and sunny midday. Also, the parking lot was completely full when we came back down from our sunrise hike. We got back to the parking lot a little after 7 AM and there were parking attendants turning people away (don’t think you’ll be able to park in anything but a designated parking spot and if you aren’t an oversized vehicle they won’t let you take those spots either). The sunrise comes up over the canyon that is behind you when you are sitting on the rocks facing the arch. If you aren’t there early enough for the actual sunrise, don’t worry. It takes a while for the sun to fully rise and shine through the arch. If you are there any time around sunrise you are sure to get a great view and some great shots. There was a fairly big group of people there but everyone had a great seat to watch the sunrise without being on top of each other. 

We did several other hikes in the park the rest of the morning before it got too hot.

Our favorites were  Natural arch and Double arch (in the windows district).

Moab:

We didn’t spend much time here as our goals were to be out exploring the area. We did stop at Moab Brewing for lunch. We enjoyed the beers and the food. The portion sizes were huge which we appreciated after a morning full of hiking at Arches!

Canyonlands Needles district

From Moab, we drove south to this entrance of the park where we found no line and much fewer crowds. We started with a few short hikes, one of which you could see needles in the distance. We then realized we really needed to do the hike at Elephant hill. This hike allows you to walk closer to and amongst the needles. By the time we started that hike, it was getting later in the morning, quite hot and we had already hiked a few miles. We ended up walking about a mile into the hike and then back out. We stopped at a very nice view of the needles. There is a viewing platform further through the hike but you will get an amazing view after only about a mile.

Driving this way you also drive through Bears Ears National Monument which is a beautiful drive. We didn’t see any signs indicating that we were in the National Monument but on the map, we clearly were in the middle of it. There are some great rock formations, cliffs, and views the entire drive. 

One final stop:

After this long, we were ready to get out of the heat of the desert. We decided to head towards Telluride for some cooler temps. We found a great camp spot with beautiful mountain views. The next morning we hiked Bridal Veil falls and enjoyed a walk around town before heading further east, back towards home. 

We did this trip at the end of May. The first day or two in Capitol Reef it was cooler (the 70s for highs). The majority of our trip was very hot- highs in the 90s and full sun nearly every day. That makes hiking all day kind of out of the question, at least for us. We highly recommend getting up early to hike before it gets too hot. You will enjoy much fewer crowds this way as well. This area of Utah is beautiful, it seemed like around every corner was something amazing to see. Even when you’re not driving through the parks the area is great, it’s an awesome place for a road trip! Take your time and enjoy the drive!

For advice on how to find free camping check out our post here: How to find free camping

What did we miss? Where are your favorite places to camp in the U.S?

Categories
Overlanding

How to Find Free Camping

On our most recent trip out west, we took our teardrop trailer to Utah and Colorado. We spent a grand total of 10 nights in the trailer (including one night at a rest stop on our way out west from Michigan). We had no firm plan for this trip, just a list of parks and areas we wanted to visit. We ended up camping at a different spot each night, all free, all with no reservations, and all close to the national park, state park, or city we wanted to visit. We loved all the spots we found! We did stay in a few that were fairly crowded but the vast majority of our nights we were one of the only, if not the only ones camping in the area. It can be done! Here are our tips for how to find great free camping…

  1. You can stay on BLM land or in National Forest. Use the Gia app or another map app that outlines what designation you are in.
  1. Use apps such as the Dyrt. We have successfully found several great spots using this app. It is all crowdsourced. You can read reviews from other people and leave a review yourself. We filter by free and drive-in. You can also find paid campgrounds and hike in only camping on this app.
  1. Go farther away from the nearest city/town. The further out you are the better your chances of finding more private, less crowded spots. Not to say you can’t find great spots close to town but if you are having trouble or want fewer people then drive further away and you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.
  1. Avoid know ATV/off-road areas. These are noisy and these areas will be more crowded because you’ll get campers and off-roaders.
  1. Look for free camping outside National and State parks. While these parks all have a campground, they will often be full and certainly not the most private. We have successfully found spots within a 5-15 minutes drive from the park entrance at several different parks. This allows you to enjoy the park for as long as you want and then escape to a quiet spot to camp for the night once your done exploring. You typically get at least a few days to re-enter the park so leaving and coming back in shouldn’t be a problem once you’ve paid your park entrance fee initially.
  1. Don’t be discouraged if you have to pass private property on your way into National forest or BLM land. Near Telluride Colorado, we pulled off onto a road where the sign said National forest access. We drove several minutes on a dirt road, past sign after sign saying “private property” and “no camping”. I began to get discouraged but our map showed that we were growing closer to National forest land. Sure enough, once we passed that line on our map we found a fantastic campsite. While it wasn’t the most private site, the views were incredible so we didn’t mind!
  1. You can find a spot later into the evening but we recommend beginning your search midafternoon. We are early risers, especially when camping. We tend to get up, get going and by 2-3, we are done exploring/hiking and ready to find a spot for the night. When you start around this time you give yourself some wiggle room to take your time finding a spot. Or if you don’t like a location, find another option. This also gives you time to relax, make dinner and take in the views wherever you are. If you are getting to your destination later in the day you can still find a spot so don’t be discouraged!
  1. The smaller your rig, the easier it is because you can get back into places that large RVs cannot.

Remember to pack in/pack out, leave no trace so you don’t ruin these great spots for others!

What did we forget, any other tips/tricks you have for finding great spots?

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Overlanding

Nothing too Fancy Overlanding Trailer

Nothing too Fancy Overlanding Trailer

In 2020 – amidst the Covid 19 lockdowns, we pivoted from international travel focus to domestic travel. After our Camper Van trip to Maui the previous December, we were inspired to do some car-based camping. We built the Nothing Too Fancy Overlanding Trailer as a project to work on in lockdown, with the goal to use it as a practical teardrop style camper. We came up with a unique design, pulling our favorite elements from the many home-made and production teardrop trailers out there (that we can’t afford!). Our goal was to make an off-road capable, comfortable teardrop style trailer for less than $3k.

Platform:

  • Based on a 5X8 flatbed utility trailer from Northern Tool. Big enough to fit a full-size bed
  • Upgraded suspension to a Timbren Axle-Less suspension for Off-Road tires
  • Sealed wooden plywood platform bolted to frame 
  • Aluminum exterior panels 

Interior Features

  • Full-size memory foam bed
  • Stargazer window
  • Driver & Passenger side doors
  • Ventilation fan
  • LED reading lights
  • Phone charging ledge
  • Backpack shelf – designed for Osprey 40L packs
  • Pass-through window to the kitchen

Kitchen & Power

  • Sliding drawers w/ Slide-out Stove
  • Small sink
  • Custom Cabinets
  • 20-gallon water tank w/pressure water system
  • Hot/cold water w/ propane for showers
  • 100W permanently mounted solar
  • PMW charge controller
  • 55 amp-hour AGM Battery
  • LED lighting 

Front Storage

  • 65 Qt. RTIC cooler on Heavy-Duty slides
  • Additional storage
  • T-Handle hatch closures

That’s the quick spin through it! We’ll put together a more in depth summary of what it took to design and build it. If you have any questions, drop a comment below!

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Overlanding Travel

Road Trip through the Western Upper Peninsula

The first time we went to Michigan’s upper peninsula we saw pictured rocks and Tahquamenon falls and that was about it. So this time we decided to go further and see more of the western part of the peninsula. This was our first trip with our home built teardrop trailer- check out our post for lessons learned about the teardrop on this trip. Our intent going forward with our teardrop is to do more dispersed camping away from crowded campgrounds. But since this was our first trip out we did stay at campgrounds each night just in case something went wrong with the trailer. To reserve your campsite at any Michigan park go to this website: https://www.midnrreservations.com

We headed north after work and made our first stop at Wilderness State Park just south of the Mackinac bridge. We got there after dark and departed in the morning so we didn’t spend much time here. The facilities were nice and we did have a spot close to the water which was nice. It is a standard campground so spots are pretty close together. There is a dark sky viewing area in the park. We enjoyed a great night sky view even just from the campground area. 

The next day we crossed the Mackinac Bridge and into the upper peninsula. Our first stop on this road trip was Presque Isle Park in Marquette which was still a few hours drive away. We got to Presque Isle in the afternoon and enjoyed the short hike around the park. The hike isn’t that long but does offer some great views of the lake and the rocky cliffs as you go along. It was a worthwhile stop if you are driving through the Marquette area. While we did enjoy the hike and the views we did think that there would be more to this park. The hike around the park is really the highlight so if you aren’t passing through the area it probably isn’t worth a drive out of your way. 

That night we stayed at Baraga State Park. We picked a spot in the row closest to the water when we looked online. What we didn’t realize is that the park is just off a very busy road so all night we heard lots of cars (and logging trucks) going by. Other than that the camp spot itself was a bit more spaced out than at Wilderness state park and the showers were nice. Overall this was not our favorite park to camp in. 

The reason we decided to stay at Baraga State park is that it was on our way to the Porcupine Mountains and it is close to the Canyon falls hike we wanted to do. The next morning we headed from Baraga to Canyon falls (only about a 15-minute drive). This hike is beautiful! You wouldn’t know it just by driving by. It is literally a roadside park. There are vault toilets and some tables for people to pull off the road for a break. But beyond that, you will start this hike along the river. It will take you to Canyon falls and then there will be a sign that says the path ends. But the hike isn’t over! The hike continues and gets way better as you follow the river into the actual canyon. Look for the blue markings on the trees and that will lead you up a hill where you can then continue the hike. You will follow the river as it flows through a small canyon and will see several smaller falls and beautiful spots along the way. We highly recommend this hike! 

Porcupine Mountains

After Canyon Falls we drove west to the Porcupine Mountains. Here we stayed at one of their more rustic camping spots. If you prefer you can camp at a site with showers and real bathrooms. We stayed at the white pine extension outpost. We had a vault toilet available near our site, no other bathroom facilities nearby. Our site had a picnic table and a fire pit. There are less than 10 sites in this outpost and all are fairly spread out.

Our outpost camping site was very buggy so definitely bring bug spray, a mosquito net, or some kind of protection for when you are hanging out at camp. It was nice to switch it up and stay in a less crowded area of the park. We also got to test out our propane heated shower and pop up shower room- check out our post, linked above on lessons learned from this trip for more on the shower set up. 

The day we arrived in the Porcupine Mountains it was beautiful and sunny but the next day it rained all day. The highlight of the park is definitely seeing Lake of the Clouds- so do that when you have a sunny day! We went on our second day in the park in the rain and wind. The views were still great but it would have been much more enjoyable had the weather cooperated. We also hiked along the Presque Isle River. That was a beautiful area that led out to a small rocky beach. There are a lot of hiking trails here but really that is the main attraction in the park. The rain did put a damper on our time here but unless you are an avid hiker who wants to do multiple long hikes all over the park, you can probably see the highlights in one day. Maybe a day and a half, one to two nights in the park would be ideal. 

The Bill Nichols Trail

We left the Porcupine Mountains and drove up the Keweenaw peninsula in the morning. That got us to Copper Harbor around lunchtime. We took the Bill Nichols trail for part of the drive and then got back onto the main road. On the trail, you cross over several old railroad bridges. Just a side note, we have read that there are some old railroad spikes that have been known to puncture tires (we didn’t have issues). The portion of it that we drove was mostly like a dirt road, with no huge bumps or obstacles to get through. We had no trouble driving it with the trailer.

Looking back, we would have loved to spend more time in the Copper Harbor area! We stayed at Fort Wilkins State Park in the west end campground as the eastern side was closed this year. The park sits along Lake Fanny Hooe. We got a great sunset on the lake in the evening. Again the showers and facilities were very nice. The spaces are fairly close together here. We dropped our trailer off, made lunch, and headed out to explore the area. We had a few great stops that we would highly recommend! 

Brockway Mountain Drive

This drive is about 9 miles long. The views along the way are awesome! There are several pull-outs so that you can stop and take photos. We also saw a TON of mountain bikers. There are trails all over and of varying degrees of difficulty. We are not mountain bikers so cannot speak to that experience. What we can say is that it appears to be the thing to do here! 

Estivant Pines:

These pines are over 500 years old. There are a couple of short hiking trails you can take that loop around the park. It was a nice hike and some of the pines were very large. Worth it to stop if you have time but it wasn’t our favorite hike we took on this trip. 

Hunter’s Point Park South/North Beach Trail Hikes:

This hike was one of our favorites! We are certainly drawn to the water and this hike is along the lakeshore so that is our own personal bias! This is a short hike out the point where this small strip of land ends, forming the calmer waters of the harbor. It was a very windy, wavy day when we visited. It was amazing to see how much of a difference this small area of land makes in calming the waves and protecting the boats in the harbor. The north trail follows lake superior and the south trail follows the calmer side of the water in the harbor.

Off-road driving/hiking to HorseShoe Harbor:

Another one of our favorite spots in Copper Harbor. Just shortly past Fort Wilkins State Park, the pavement ends. You then end up on a seasonal, dirt road that gets narrower, becoming more of a two-track as you drive back. We turned left about a mile after the pavement ended. About another mile or two into the drive there is a small parking lot and you can park and walk out to the beach. The hike to the beach is very short and worth it for sure! There is a very large beach area. Along one end there are very large rocks that come out into the water. They are not easy to climb up but if you can get up on top of the rocks definitely do! It was a very windy, wavey day when we were there so we really enjoyed watching the waves crash from the top of these rocks! We did follow the road/two-track past the beach walk parking lot but it quickly became much narrower and difficult to drive. We ended up having to back up and turn around because we came to a pretty steep and uneven hill that we weren’t sure our truck could manage. If you have a real off-road vehicle this would be a great place to explore!

We had only one day in Copper Harbor before we had to start our long drive back home! We did alot in our day but as we said this was an area we would have loved to have more time to explore!  

Tell us your favorite UP destinations, what did we miss? Where should we go next time? 

Categories
Overlanding Travel

Colorado Road Trip: Maroon Bells to Gunnison

In all of our travels together, Erika has never been to the Rocky Mountains. It’s about an 18-hour drive from where we live in Grand Rapids to Denver. After getting two smaller trips with the trailer under our belt, we felt we had most of the kinks worked out for a longer trip. We decided on Colorado since we have some good friends there and it’s a manageable drive with the trailer. In total, we had about 5.5 days in Colorado, plus two days of driving. We started at our friend’s house in Denver and headed out, into the mountains from there. 

We found this itinerary to be very manageable with the time frame we had. From Denver, our first stop was Maroon Bells near Aspen. After that, we headed about 3-3.5 hours to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. From there we went to Salida which was about a 2-hour drive. Our last stop was in Colorado Springs. We really enjoyed our time in each of these locations.


Maroon Bells:

We were lucky enough that our friends had booked a campsite at Maroon Bells well in advance. You can start booking these campsites 6 months ahead of time, and we have been told you need to book early to get one! The sites are fairly small but we did fit our teardrop and truck and our friends SUV with a rooftop tent. There are plenty of trees in between the sites so you do get a good amount of privacy. From Aspen, there is one road into these campsites at Maroon Bells. During spring/summer and into early fall ( we were there in September) you do need a camping reservation to drive that road between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm. If you do not have a reservation you can take a bus from Aspen. Check out this website for more information: https://www.aspensnowmass.com/inside-aspen-snowmass/stories/maroon-bells-101-all-you-need-to-know


The greatest part about camping here was getting up and heading to see the sunrise hit the famous mountain peaks. This is a must-do! Definitely get to the parking area early as it does fill up (early in the morning you can without a camping reservation). After sunrise, we hiked from the viewpoint to the base of the actual Maroon Bells mountain. We did an out and back hike of about 3 miles, but there are multiple trail options if you’re more ambitious. The views along the way are awesome! 


Other than that our time at Maroon Bells was spent just relaxing and hanging out with our friends at the campsite. We did have one bit of excitement when a black bear walked right through the camping area. There are bear boxes at each site to keep food locked up so do use those as you never know what you might encounter! 


One last note on Aspen/Maroon Bells. It was recommended by our friends that we take Independence Pass to get into Aspen from Denver vs going around the mountains. This road isn’t always open and you do need to make sure your total length (for us meaning the truck and trailer) is less than 35 ft. We measured ahead of time, with our trailer we are 32 ft and we had no trouble driving this pass.

The road does have several switch-backs, some without guardrails and some are pretty narrow. There were lots of signs warning vehicles beyond that length to turn back, there was nobody enforcing this rule but it would definitely be a bit sketchy to drive if you were over 35 ft. The road is beautiful, it winds up the mountains to the peak which is at 12,000.  There is a parking lot you can park and take in the views at the top, we did not since we were following our friends to the campsite but we would have loved to stop and take it all in!


Gunnison:

From Maroon Bells, we headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We got there about 2:30-3 pm and were told there were still campsites open but when we drove through we couldn’t find one. The sites are mostly set up for you to parallel park along the outside and then set your tent up in the spot. For us with our teardrop trailer, the spots wouldn’t have worked well. They are also very, very close together so there is not much privacy. We would say that it is not worth it to camp in the park. The cost is $16 a night for no electric hook up, $22 a night with electric hook up.

There is a large area of BLM land approx 1 mile from the park entrance with a lot of spots available. The BLM land is well marked and easy to find. The spots are fairly spread out and the area is forested enough to offer privacy from others in nearby spots. We really enjoyed this camping area and would highly recommend it! And it is free!


While you are in the park we would recommend driving along the rim and stopping off at the various viewpoints. Most of these are only a short walk from the road and you can easily stop at them all within one day. All the views are beautiful! There are several trails in the park, our favorite was the rimrock trail which follows the rim and offers spectacular views along the way!

Our other favorite activities were driving down the east portal road to the base on the canyon. There is a length maximum of 22 feet to go down the East Portal due to the steep switchbacks. Once you are down there, you can walk along the river. If your plan is to do some hiking and just take in the views in the park as we did then you really only need one full (busy) day, maybe a day and a half here to get a good experience. We stayed at the BLM camping area for two nights. The first evening we just set up camp and then drove down the east portal road and explored a bit. Then the following day we got up and really explored the entire park. 


Salida and Collegiate Peaks:


Our next stop was the town of Salida near the Collegiate Peaks. We found another great BML spot to camp. The road was pretty bumping getting to this area but the views were amazing! We had full 360* views of the mountains from our site! After dropping off our trailer we headed into downtown Salida for some lunch. We ate at Amicas pizza and brewery. We really enjoyed the food and beer.

From lunch, we decided to drive up into one of the mountains nearby. From highway 285 we took Chalk Creek Drive, which led us right past the chalk cliffs and past some really pretty views. There is an alpine lake which we did drive past but it is, unfortunately, private property. We enjoyed the views of the lake while driving past but couldn’t get out and walk around the lake as we hoped. 


The next morning we began our drive back to Michigan. We did stop at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and did a little bit of driving/walking around that park before leaving Colorado. We would have loved to spend more time at the Garden of the Gods hiking around the rocks. It is really a beautiful park! 


To find all our free campsites we used the Dyrt app and Gia GPS. We found both to be accurate in regards to the location of the BLM land. The Dyrt also has reviews from users on the camping areas to help you decide which sites you want to stay at. We loved this road trip and can’t wait to get back to Colorado to do some more exploring!

For more on what we learned from our first travels in our DIY teardrop trailer check out our post here: Teardrop Trailer Shakedown trip: What we Learned


Tell us your favorite areas in Colorado! What did we miss and where should we go next time?

Categories
Journal Overlanding

Teardrop trailer shakedown trip: What we learned

Teardrop Trailer

We took our first trip with our DIY teardrop recently. We drove up to the upper peninsula of Michigan all the way to Copper Harbor. Quite the shakedown trip, it totaled about 1500 miles. The trailer overall worked well for us but we definitely ran into some issues.  We came home with a new project list of things to fix/adjust before heading out again.

Here is what we learned: 


1. Weight

Adding all your gear and food and water will add more weight than you might realize. This additional weight will affect how the trailer sits and pulls behind your truck or car. Seems obvious, we know! Before our trip, we did a quick trip around the block and then drove the trailer at speeds up to 70 miles per hour, everything went great. But we did this trial without anything in the trailer. Our suggestion- fill your water tank, add all your gear to the trailer then take it on the test drive around the block. You may find you have a suspension issue…

 
2. Overbuild Everything

We bought a suspension that was rated for up to 1,200lbs. The next option up cost approx $200 much more and was rated for us to 2,000 lbs. We didn’t think we needed that option. Maybe we didn’t and it was just a fluke but we ended up blowing out the right side of our suspension before we even left the driveway. Must have happened when we loaded everything into the trailer, adding a bunch of weight. The other side didn’t fail the whole trip, which was good, so maybe it was a product issue. Either way, the tire was rubbing the fender so we had to remove the fender early in the trip.


3. Check for water leaks before you leave 

Again obvious we know! We sealed everything very well and we were fairly confident it would be sufficient. We also checked the weather forecast which looked dry – no rain forecasted when we left. We had intended to put the trailer in the driveway and shower it with the hose before leaving to check that it was watertight but life got busy and we ran out of time. It ended up raining alot during our trip and we found several small leaks. Small leaks are enough to make your stuff very wet if it is raining hard. We were able to stop and buy some silicone and repair some of our leaks along the way. Our suggestion- Actually do what we planned to do, shower/hose everything down and really check that it is water tight before you leave 🙂


4. Water use was about what we expected

We have a 20-gallon water tank (we dumped some of it at the beginning of the trip to reduce weight). It still lasted us 5 days, being very conservative with our water use. We used the water for dishes, showers, and drinking every day. We did stay at some campgrounds that had showers this trip with more rustic/dispersed camping sites mixed in. When showers were available we used them. In total, we used our water tank for three very short showers. Everyone’s rate of water consumption will be a little different but this will at least give a general idea of how long water will last you. 


5. Solar power is awesome

We have one solar panel on the top of our trailer. This was plenty of power to support our water pump, rooftop fan (turned on most nights), small bedside LED lights, and charging our phones. That is really all we used our power for. 


6. Propane for cooking

Originally we planned to hook our 5 lb propane tank we have for our shower water heater and use that for cooking as well. We changed our mind and used the small green 1lb canisters which ended up being much easier. Using those allowed us to move our camp stove and grill to wherever was most convenient around our campsite and the small propane canisters are very easy to store away when you are not using them. Also they can be purchased at a variety of stores so if you run out you can easily purchase another one during a longer trip as needed. 


7. Have a plan for rain

This was always in our minds as something we needed to do but we didn’t have a plan in place when we left for this trip. We intend to buy some type of rain shield/cover that we can put up so that if it is raining we can still cook in our kitchen and sit outside to eat without getting wet. 


8. Showers 

We have a propane water heater mounted to the side of our trailer, a 20-gallon water tank and a pop-up shower “room”. This set up did work well for quick showers during our trip. We would recommend getting some type of bath mat or grate to stand on since the pop up “room” doesn’t have a floor. If it has been rainy at all you could be standing on muddy ground as you shower (bring flip flops). 


9. Bring tools/spare pairs you think you might need

Save yourself some stress and bring some simple things you may need if you have to fix something. Even with the best-built equipment stuff happens on the road that you might not expect. 

10. Throw your trash out every night

This was a lesson we learned on our second trip in the teardrop. We were running low on trash bags so we had a very full bag in our back kitchen area. Well a clever little mouse got into our trailer somehow. We woke up to mouse droppings throughout our kitchen and multiple holes chewed threw our trash bag. Try to get rid of your trash each night and keep no food items in the trailer.

11. Take time to Relax

You have a teardrop and part of the allure of that, at least for us, is that you don’t have to pack up a tent before you leave in the morning. You can wake up, make breakfast, and drive away. That makes road-tripping all over and staying in new places each day very easy. We are always trying to get in as much as we can during our trips since we are still working full time and have limited time off. But we would recommend at least for part of any trip, stay in one location/camp spot for more than one-two nights and take some time to just relax and enjoy the location! We are working to be better at this ourselves. 


What tips/suggestions for overland travel do you have? Anything we missed? Leave us a comment below! 

Categories
Overlanding Travel

Maui Adventure: Hike, Snorkel, Beach, and Eats

Maui is a great destination with tons to see and do! Of course, everyone reads about the road to Hana which is absolutely amazing and you definitely need to do that as part of your trip! We have a full post on driving the road to Hana which we have a link to at the end of this post! Here we will tell you where else on Maui to explore during your trip! We explored the island via camper van. We spent our nights at campgrounds and used the van as transportation to make sure we could see as much of the island as possible on this pretty short trip. We had about four and a half days to explore. Here’s our list of what to see and do on Maui outside the road to Hana.

Lava fields at Perouse Bay/Hoapili Trail: Our first full day it was a little rainy in the morning so we decided to drive out to the lava fields and hike. We were one of the only people on the trail that morning. It was really nice to have the place pretty much to ourselves. You are walking on a pretty rocky/uneven path but it is an overall easy hike. You will get great views of the ocean as you walk. As you walk farther you will see large rock cliffs that drop straight into the ocean. We also came across a few small tidal pools among the rocks. We even found one large and deep enough to swim in. We would recommend wearing you swim suit under whatever you are hiking in so that you can easily go for a swim if you would like. Do watch out for sea urchins if you are swimming over here, they are very sharp so you don’t want to step on one!

Lava Fields Kings Trail: On your way to hike the lava fields you will pass this beach. We stopped here after our morning hike to do some snorkeling. It doesn’t look like much when you walk down to the beach but just offshore you will see amazing coral and lots of fish! Literally as soon as we put our faces in the water we were surrounded by fish here! We also saw a sea turtle and an octopus while we were here.

Big beach and little beach at Makena Park: These are both white sand beaches and both are beautiful. Little beach is a clothing optional beach so do be aware of that if you are walking over there. It is just a short walk in-between the beaches. There is also a small path that follows the coast past little beach. The path is along lava stone on the coast, it is a pretty walk but we would recommend the lava fields to get your lava experience over this path.

Hookipa beach: This beach is another white sand beach. It’s a good surfing spot and is right before the start of the road to Hana. There are bathrooms here, showers to rinse off at and picnic tables. We spend a little while here our last afternoon on the island. This beach has a great mix of locals and tourists.

Papalaua State Wayside Park and Ukumehame Beach Park: We stayed at camp Olowalu our first two nights. As you drive along the Honoapiilani highway from Kihei towards Lahaina (or towards camp Olowalu) there are these narrow beaches running just off the road. It is easy to pull off, park your car along the beach and relax during the daytime hours. We also heard this is a great spot for long boarding. These beaches are also great spots to watch the sunset! Camping at Papalaua State Wayside Park is also an option, if you’d like. Check our our Maui by Camper Van post for more information on camping throughout Maui- Maui by Camper Van

Papawai Point: This look out is a really great spot for sunset and for whale watching in the winter. Again this is along the Honoapiilani highway as you drive from Kihei towards Lahaina. We watched the sunset here our last night on the island. It is a popular spot (for good reason) so do be aware that the parking lot will likely be full.

Snorkel tour with Pacific Whale Foundation on Ocean Explorer: We chose to do a smaller tour group that offered more snorkeling spots than some of their other, larger tours. Our group was only about 15 people total which was really nice. It made getting on/off the boat much better than having to wait for everyone in a larger group. The tour starts at 6:30 am. You meet up at the Pacific Whale Foundation where you sign in and they provide you with breakfast as you watch the sunrise over the marina. At 7:30 am you will head down to the boat. You are on the boat a total of about 6 hours. We stopped at five different snorkeling spots on our tour. You get a small snack provided about half way through the tour. You also get lunch on the boat once you are done with your final snorkel. The tour ends back at the marina at 1:30pm. They have water and other beverages available at any time during the tour. You are welcome to get off the boat at each stop or sit on the boat and relax if you want to skip one or more of the snorkels. We had a captain driving the boat and two lifeguards/marine life specialists with us on our tour. Each snorkel one of the life guards would come into the water with us to make sure everyone was okay. They would also help point things out for us in the water. We snorkeled in the “turtle town” area where we saw tons of turtles! We then did another reef off the coast where we saw more turtles and a small eel. From there we did a drift  snorkel (the boat stopped, let us off the circled nearby while we snorkeled since it was too deep to anchor) to see a small place crash and all the fish that are living in the wreckage.  Then we headed to the back side of Molokini Crater (another drift snorkel) where we saw a seal and then snorkeled along the wall there before finishing our tour inside Molokini Crater snorkeling the reef. We would highly recommend this tour! We had a great time on this tour. The Pacific Whale Foundation does a lot of great research and advocacy for the environment/ocean. Part of the money you spend on your tour is going directly to the foundation to allow them to keep doing the good work that they do. The link below will take you to the snorkel tour that we did on their website. From there you can check out the other tours and activities that The Pacific Whale Foundation offers.

https://www.pacificwhale.org/cruises/maui-snorkel/molokini-wild-side-eco-adventure/

Food: 

We are foodies and typically food is a huge part of travel for us. But this trip was shorter and we were camping and moving around the island quite a bit. Food was not our top priority here. We ate a lot of snacks in the camper van and stopped along the way for more full meals as needed. Here are a few of our recommendations for where to eat on Maui:

Paia Fish Market: This place has great fish burgers! Also make sure to try some Maui Brewing Company beer while your here! This was our first stop after we picked up our Camper Van! The portions are huge and the prices were fairly standard, definitely not an expensive meal but very good!

Da Kitchen in Kahului or Kihei: This restaurant is BYOB. It has great kalua pork! The portions are huge! We both ordered an entrée for dinner and could have easily just split one meal.

Star Noodle in Lahaina: This place was one of our favorite restaurants we stopped at. They have really good food! We planned to eat in for dinner however when we arrived at 6-6:30ish there was an hour wait for a table. We ended up ordering take out which  only took about 15-20 minutes to prepare. We took our food back to our campground and enjoyed it there instead. Moral of the story, make reservations if you plan to eat dinner here and avoid the long wait time.

Jawz Taco Truck at Makena Park: This is a great option for a quick lunch on the go as you explore the island. We headed to Makena park after hiking the lava fields our first day. The trunk arrived to the park about 12:30 pm. We had pork and fish tacos here and both were really good but we preferred the pork.

For Food recommendations and recommended stops along the road to Hana check out our full Road to Hana post here: Road to Hana Camper Van Adventure

There is definitely more to Maui then we listed here. Another big thing to do is head to the top of Haleakala for the sunrise. We heard very mixed reviews on this so we decided to skip it on this trip. We have read that sunset on the top of Haleakala can also be really great and can be less crowded. If we had one more full day we would have added one of these two options to our itinerary. But now we saved something for the next time we are in Maui!

Tell us your favorite places on Maui, leave us a comment below!

Categories
Overlanding Travel

Exploring Maui by Camper Van

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Last year for the first time ever we decided to do what we called a mystery trip! What that meant for us was that we got time off work approved and then waited for a cheap flight deal to determine where we were going to go. We ended up finding a really great deal to Hawaii through Scott’s Cheap Flights. We did a little research and decided on Maui! After we booked our flights we started looking for an Airbnb or boutique hotels which is what we typically do when we travel. Turns out most of the Airbnbs on Maui are not cheap! So our cheap trip was becoming more expensive. We started looking into other options and quickly came upon several camper van companies. There are a few companies you can book through on Maui, we decided to go with North Shore Vans (https://www.northshorevans.com) and we would highly recommend them! The owner (Chris) was great and super helpful!. He picked us up from the airport and dropped us back off at the airport after we returned the van.

The van is your lodging and your transportation for your trip all in one which makes seeing all of Maui really easy. We found the van to work out really well for us, it allowed us the freedom to explore the island without having to make sure we got back to one spot each night.You will see vans pulled off to the side of the road on small beaches and other locations all over the island. Legally you are not supposed to do this, you need to book a spot at a campground with your van each night. This was a shorter trip for us, we only had about four and half days on the island so we picked a couple different campgrounds to really make sure we could see as much of the island as possible.

This is where we stayed:

Camp Olowalu: Start Here

This place can fill up fast so it is recommended that you make reservations ahead of time. We spent our first two nights here. This was definitely the nicest campground we stayed at. They have hot showers and nice bathrooms. There is also a small black sand beach on the property. Tent camping and van parking spots are available, as well as tentalows and cabins if you want to do some glamping. There are chickens all over this property, they are not shy and will walk right up to your tent or van! They did not bother us at all and would typically quickly run away if we got too close to them. There is also a large group of stray cats on this property if you walk along the path near the beach. The cost for a night here is $20 per person. We also headed back here our last evening before taking a late flight home since the last campground we stayed at didn’t have showers. To stop in here and just use their hot showers the cost is $10 a person. This campground is about 15-20 minutes from the airport which makes it a great place you start your trip. It is also a good central location if you want to go up to Lahaina or over to Kihei/Makena/lava fields!

Camp Kaenae/YMCA: Awesome views, but bring bug spray!

Reservations are recommended here as well as it will make checking in easier, but it was almost empty while we were there. This campsite is just about to the halfway point on the road to Hana. You likely won’t have cell phone reception here so making sure you already have your spot reserved is very helpful. The cost here is $30 a person – which is honestly a more than it’s worth. They do have hot showers and bathrooms. There are spots for van camping and tent camping here. The night we were here it was very buggy which we were not prepared for. If you can handle the mosquitos, the view out to the ocean here is amazing! One final word of caution – make sure you bring food to cook on the grill/stove. We had planned to stop at a BBQ food stall on the way but that place was closed and there were no other options close by.  You are in the middle of the Road to Hana and there was literally nowhere to eat. We ended up eating pretzels and trail mix for dinner.  Also the night we were here there was only 2 other vans so for the most part we had the place to ourselves.

Kipahulu- Haleakala National Park: 

This is about 10 miles past Hana. This park is where the seven sacred pools are located. The campground here has no showers, it does have vault toilets. Van and tent camping are allowed here. They do not take reservations ahead of time, but they had a lot of campsites. We arrived late in the afternoon and had no trouble finding a spot to park. It will cost $25 per vehicle to enter the park. Your park pass is valid for three days and also allows you to drive up the Haleakala volcano and even stay at the Hosmer Grove Campground within the three days. There is no additional fee for camping. The van parking spots are very close to the water. If you are tent camping you can camp even closer to the water if you like. We walked along a small path in the morning to find a quiet place to do our yoga and we passed several small tents in small openings along the path/trail with great views of the water.

Here is a list of other campgrounds on Maui that you can legally park your van for camping:

Wainapanapa State Park

Papalaua campground

Hosmer Grove -Haleakala National Park (uses the same pass as the Kipahulu campground!)

Check out North Shore Vans Website for more information on each of these locations and links to each campsite where reservations are needed- https://www.northshorevans.com/campgrounds

Other Logistics: We were recommended to grocery shop Mana foods in Paia which is actually a small, health food store. They have fairly good prices however they didn’t have everything we were looking for, so we ended up having to go somewhere else to get a few other random items. There is a Costco and several other big name stores near the airport. We went to Walmart since it was the first one we passed after leaving Mana foods. If you are looking for any toiletries, sunscreen, or alcohol Mana foods won’t have these items for you.

Also something we didn’t consider is that all of these campgrounds do have grills so you can cook food. The van also had a small gas camping stove for cooking. The van does have a cooler for keeping food cold. The cooler is sitting in the hot van all day while you are out exploring so we did find we had to refill it with ice almost every day. We relied on snacks and stopping for food along the way each day since we were on a shorter trip. Camp Olowalu is within 15 minutes of several small towns so you can definitely eat at restaurants when staying here. The other places we stayed were along the road to Hana where food options are very sparse. There are restaurants in Hana, so we got take out when we were there the next afternoon and kept that in the cooler for dinner the night we stayed at Kipahulu-Haleakala National Park.The back of the van had a bed, storage for all of our stuff and a sink. Simple dishes and silverware were provided as well as a map of the island with points of interest to help us make the most of our trip. There were also curtains to cover the windows at night when we wanted to relax in the van. There were also lights and a power inverter to charge phones/ipads, etc.

We found the camper van to be a really nice way to see the island. We would highly recommend this to anyone looking to travel cheaply! You always hear that Hawaii is not a cheap place to travel but trust us when we say this is the way to do it! It isn’t your typical Hawaiian vacation but we loved every minute of it! We haven’t visited any of the other islands yet but there are camper van rental companies on the other islands as well and we are looking forward to exploring those islands in this way as well!

For more on the Road to Hana check out our post here: Road to Hana Camper Van Adventure

Where have you explored by camper van or other styles of camping? Leave us a comment below!

Categories
Overlanding Travel

Road to Hana Camper-Van Adventure

The Road to Hana is a must do for any trip to Maui. A lot of people do the road to Hana in one day which you can certainly do. If you have more time to spend in this area there is definitely a lot to see and do! We wanted to make sure we had time for as many stops as we wanted so we took more time on this side of the island during our trip. Places to stay are limited along the road to Hana, there are a few very small hotels in the town of Hana its self but that is really all we saw. We rented a camper van for our trip which worked out very well since there are a few places to sleep along the way. We stayed one night at Camp Kaenae YMCA which is just short of halfway to Hana. We then drove the rest of the road the following day and spent one night at the Kipahulu Distric of Haleakala National Park which is past Hana (this is the park where the 7 sacred pools are located). You could also tent camp at these locations if you have camping equipment available to you. We found the camper van to be perfect since it served as our transportation and our lodging. We didn’t have to worry about setting up and taking down a tent. We could simply get up and drive off to keep exploring. We rented our van through North Shore Vans and would highly recommend them.

We have broken this post up into our “must do” stops and then at the end are some extra stops worth including if you have more time. Most of the best stops are towards the second half of the road to Hana. We actually started the road the Hana drive around 2pm since we knew we were staying at about the halfway point. The second day we had a full day to explore, and we were already pretty close to everything we really wanted to see. This worked out very well and we found we were in much less traffic since most people start early in the day at the beginning and only dedicate one day to this trip.

Must dos:

Keanae Peninsula mile marker 16-17-  Take the turn off down to this peninsula and the little town. The views of the ocean are amazing! The town was struck by a tsunami in 1946 which destroyed everything except the church. You can still see this traditional stone church when you visit. Also while you are here we would recommend stopping at Auntie Sandy’s for some banana bread still warm from the oven!

Tree Bears falls mile marker 19.5- This waterfall is absolutely beautiful. When the rain has been heavier and more water is rushing over the falls it appears as one waterfall. When it hasn’t been as rainy the falls are separated into three which is where the name three bears falls comes from. If you are a little bit adventurous you can wander down under the bridge and get right up close to the falls. There is not really a path, you will be walking on rocks, it can be a bit muddy but overall it isn’t too challenging. We both walked down here and there was one other couple walking around on the rocks while we were there.

Nahiku mile marker 25- Follow the turn off down the small, windy road to the very small town of Nahiku. There isn’t much “in town” but once you are there you can park and walk down to the shore. You will get beautiful views of the ocean with large black lava rocks and huge waves crashing up on the rocks. From the main look out point to the ocean you can follow the small path on the left side (if looking at the ocean) down to a small tidal pool that is protected from the waves. It is a bit rocky so we didn’t swim here but were told by a few locals it is a good place to go for a swim.

Black Sand Beach at Waiapanapa State Park mile marker 32- This is definitely a more popular stop so be prepared for more people. It is for good reason that everyone is stopping here! You should definitely walk to the beach and go for a swim, from there we highly recommend walking to the left (if you are looking at the ocean) and hiking along the black lava rocks. Here you will get great views and the further you walk you will get away from the crowds and have the path to yourself. Our favorite picture from our whole trip was taken along this path!

Kaihalulu red sand beach in Hana mile marker 34- We had heard that the path to this beach can be dangerous. We even read a few blog posts that said they didn’t visit this beach because of the dangerous path. We found the path to be completely fine but that being said if it was really rainy we could see how it could be pretty sketchy. There is a fairly steep drop off down the ocean from the path and the pebble ground is likely slippery after/during a lot of rain. The walk to the beach is fairly short. The beach is beautiful once you arrive. There are several large rocks blocking the larger wave making this a nice place to swim. We have heard that this is a clothing optional beach so if that is something that bothers you do be aware of that. Parking is also pretty restricted, but it was a Sunday when we were there and parked at the preschool near the Thai food truck and walked from there (also, grab some Thai while you’re at it!)

Kipahulu Distric of Haleakala National Park mile marker 42:

Seven Sacred pools- We actually enjoyed the Venus pools (which are on our list of additional stops) better than these pools however if you are only dedicating one day to this than the day goes quickly so you’ll have to make some tough decisions on where to stop and what to skip. This park has the best hike on Maui (in our opinion) so overall the park is a must do! The seven sacred pools were open for swimming when we visited however in the past they have closed at times so do be aware of that. The pools are beautiful and worth seeing. They are freshwater, if you are camping in the park there are not showers so a dip in these pools is a nice way to rinse the salt water off if you have been exploring and swimming all day.

PipiWai Trail-  This was over favorite hike on Maui! It is a 4 mile hike through bamboo forest and up to Waimoka falls which is a 400ft waterfall. The trail is easy to follow but it is uphill most of the way. As you get closer to the end where Waimoka falls is the trail can get a bit wet and muddy. Definitely wear your hiking shoes/boots for this hike. If are giving yourself more than one day on the road to Hana we would recommend getting to this trail early. We started our hike around 7:30-8AM and we didn’t see anyone else until we were on the second half of the hike back after seeing the falls.

Additional stops worth making if you have time: 

It is worth saying that some of these stops are also really cool and we loved them! Just because they are on this part of our list shouldn’t deter you from stopping. But if you are doing this trip in one day and trying to make it back before dark then your time really will go quickly!

Venus pools mile marker 48- This was one of our favorite stops! if you have time for one of the additional stops we have listed this would be the one we suggest! The Venus pools are a short walk from the road. Finding a parking spot along the road can be challenging, and mind the sings as some people had tickets on their windshields. There are giant rocks surrounding the major pool where you will see people jumping/diving into the water from various heights. If you aren’t brave enough for that you can easily get into the water without jumping/diving. Just beware that it is a bit tricky to get out of. The pool is quite large with lush jungle on the far side giving it a perfect Hawaii feel!

Twin falls mile marker 2- these falls are smaller than some of the others we stopped at. But they are still beautiful and you can swim in them. There are two separate waterfalls here. you will see a fairly large parking lot at this stop with a fruit stand. From there you follow the path along to the falls. Both waterfalls are just a short walk from the parking lot.

Waikamoi Ridge Trail mile marker 9.5- This trail is 1.1 miles. It is near the beginning of the road to Hana. It is a nice trail and if you really want to get out and explore it is a good option for a short hike but we don’t feel it is a “must do”.

Hanamanu Bay mile marker 14- This is a smaller black sand beach than the park we listed above.  We have heard there is a narrow road you can turn off on if you want to actually get down to the beach but we did not do that this trip. You will get amazing views of the beach along the drive and there is a look out point on the drive back from Hana so you can stop and get a great picture of this beautiful bay!

Keanae Arboretum mile marker 16- This place is where you can walk right up and see a patch of rainbow bamboo trees. These trees are beautiful to see up close. The arboretum is also full of other beautiful plats and flowers. It is a fairly short walk through the main part of the arboretum so this stop won’t take you too long. It would be easy to add on if you have extra time.

Pua’a Ka’a State Wayside mile marker 22- This stop is a pretty popular one so be prepared for it to be more crowded. There are bathrooms here so it’s a good place to stop. There is also a small waterfall you can swim in here.

Wailua Falls mile marker 45- Another beautiful waterfall. You can get views of it from the car as you drive by. If you have extra time you can park nearby and explore for even better views.

There are a few good look out spots along the way with views of the ocean and the volcano, if you have the GyPSy Guide app for Hana which we recommend (more details on that at the end of this post) the audio guide will point out these spots for you.

Food Recommendations:

If you are camping along the way do take into consideration that there aren’t a ton of places to stop for food/groceries. We recommend packing snacks and stopping for food when you pass an opportunity! There is a small grocery/convivence store in Hana to stock up on things as needed but don’t expect them to have everything a larger grocery store would have.

Ka Haku Smoke shack mile marker 10.2- This place does close fairly early in the afternoon so do be aware of that. The first day when we drove by at about 3-4pm it was closed. We stopped here on our way back from Hana closer to 11:30-noon and it was open. The chicken and ribs are both really good! This is a simple place, just a parking lot with some picnic tables and two guys working the grill. Doesn’t look like much but it is worth a stop!

Halfway to Hana Stand mile marker 17- This small stand has coffee, water, juice, snacks and great banana bread! This was our breakfast after staying at the YMCA.

Nahiku Marketplace/food trucks mile marker 29- There are multiple options for food here, we arrived around 11 AM when everything was just opening up. We had some great BBQ. There is also a small gift shop here if you would like to pick something up to take home with you. If you can plan to be here later in the afternoon then all the options would be open for you.

Thai food by Pranee in Hana mile marker 34- This place is amazing! It is right in Hana. We got food to go from here for dinner the night we were camping in the Kipahulu Distric of Haleakala National Park. We would highly recommend eating here!

A few other random tips:

Bring bug spray!

Bring snacks because as we said, depending on what time of day you drive by these places food stands and shops may or may not be open.

Be aware that you will lose cell phone service shortly into the drive so download any maps or information you think you may need before you start the drive.

One last recommendation we have is to download the GyPSy Guide app for Hana. It costs $5-6 but is totally worth it. Open the app and once you start driving the guide will begin talking. You will get some history and general information about the area as you drive. The guide will also point out each stop for you with a bit of information to help you decide if you want to stop or not. All the stops along the road are not super well marked so it would be very easy to miss things without the guide telling you when to stop.  Also of note, we have listed the closest mile marker for each stop but some of these stops are not right at the mile marker. You will have to keep your eyes open for where each stop is truly located.

Take your time and enjoy the drive!

For more on our trip to Maui check out our other posts:

Exploring Maui by Camper Van

Maui Adventure

Tell us your favorite Road to Hana stops, leave us a comment below!