Follow The Red Dirt Road To This Untouched Hawaiian Paradise
By Megan Shute|Published March 31, 2018
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
We all know that the yellow brick road leads to Oz, but what about red dirt roads? They lead to a magnificent untouched paradise on the island of Lanai, of course! Also known as the Pineapple Island, for its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation, Lanai measures in at only 141 square miles, making it the fifth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. The island is home to 3,100 residents and red dirt roads that lead to striking scenery untouched by man.
Read on to learn more about the beautiful red dirt roads that traverse the stunning little island of Lanai.
While each of the Hawaiian Islands are home to dirt roads, Lanai is perhaps home to the largest concentration of unpaved roads just waiting to be explored.
You see, Lanai is home to less than 30 miles of paved roads, but more than 400 miles of dirt roads criss-crossing the island, all of which lead to striking landscapes.
These roads, many of which feature striking red dirt, were created during the island’s plantation heyday, and are still the primary mode of transportation today.
If you head about a half hour north of Lanai City, you will find Shipwreck Beach, a windy eight-mile stretch of sand that has been the site of various shipwrecks. As a matter of fact, the hull of a 1940s ghostly oil tanker is still beached on the reef, giving the beach a sense of surreal beauty.
Also known as Keahiakawelo, this otherworldly rock garden at the end of Polihua Road is located 45 minutes from Lanai City. According to lore, this barren landscape is the result of a contest between two priests from Lanai and Molokai. Each was supposed to keep a fire burning on their island longer than the other, and the winner’s island would be rewarded with great abundance. Apparently Kawelo, the Lanai priest, used every bit of vegetation found in Keahiakawelo.
Whether you're catching windshield views as you drive by or stopping to take photographs of the stunning landscape, it doesn't get much more exciting or exhilarating than exploring the red dirt roads of Lanai.
