La Perouse – a Seaside Ride

You can ride form Kihei to La Perouse or from Lahaina if you are experienced. It is a beautiful ride no matter how far you come. If you do start from Lahaina, you’ll cross the Pali. Be sure to stop at a lookout or two, the vistas are wide and the air is fresh, often swept up from the ocean hundreds of feet below. At Ma’alaea take a right and ride past the harbor on the lower road. Head East until you reach the large intersection and head right toward Haleakala along the mudflats. This area is called Kealia and is a wildlife refuge, there is a boardwalk if you care to take a stroll, just lock up that bike.

Back on the road head South and turn onto South Kihei rd. to ride the seashore all the way to Wailea. Be careful in spots as some of the road has no shoulder but most of the road has a bike lane and is a pleasure to ride. Toward the end of South Kihei Rd. you will turn up away from the shore as you enter Wailea. The entire landscape transforms from yellowed grasses and Keawe trees to lush green with older broad trees and golf courses unrolling along the hills.

Ride along and follow any roads down to beaches for pleasing detours but keep following the main road and eventually you will pass Makena Hill, the very large pu’u, (cinder cone) that rises between Makena’s great beaches. Keep going and shortly you will be on a skinny little road that the waves even crash on when the waves get big. A small sign says ‘Simulated Moon Surface Ahead’ as you traverse a very bumpy patch. Alright now, your heading across the lava flow into La Perouse Bay, (called Keoneʻoʻio), it’s only a few miles to ride but it is a fantastic few miles along this fairly new lava flow in the Ahihi-Kina’u Natural Area Preserve. If you came from Lahaina, you may want a car to meet you here, it is the end of the road. If you only came from Kihei, it’s a good bet you can ride back.