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We've compiled the best of the best in Maui - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Up Kokomo Road in Haiku you'll find a large puu (volcanic cinder cone) capped with a grove of columnar pines and the 4th Marine Division Memorial Park. During World War II, American GIs trained here for battles on Iwo Jima and Saipan. Locals nicknamed the cinder cone "Giggle Hill" because it was a popular hangout for Maui women and their favorite servicemen. The park includes an impressive playground, picnic tables, and lots of wide-open space.
Picnic facilities dot the landscape of this county park, a memorial to Maui's cultural roots. Among the interesting displays are an early-Hawaiian hale (house), a New England-style saltbox, a Portuguese-style villa with gardens, and dwellings from other cultures, such as China and the Philippines.
The peacefulness here belies the history of the area. In 1790, King Kamehameha the Great from the Island of Hawaii waged a successful bloody battle against Kahekili, the son of Maui's chief. An earlier battle at the site had pitted Kahekili against an older Hawaii Island chief, Kalaniopuu. Kahekili prevailed, but the carnage was so great that the nearby stream became known as Wailuku (Water of Destruction), and the place where fallen warriors choked the stream's flow was called Kepaniwai (Damming of the Waters).
