by Jay Reynolds Freeman
The big island of Hawaii is dominated by two massive, 4 Km high volcanos, the long ridge of Mauna Loa to the south and the rounder summit of Mauna Kea to the north. Hawaii state route 200, the "Saddle Road", traverses the broad, 2 Km high saddle between the two great peaks, from Hilo, on the eastern part of the island, to state route 190, near the northwest coast. At milepost 28, 45 Km west of Hilo, begins the side road that leads north and up to the Onizuka Visitor Center, at an elevation of 2.7 Km, and then beyond, to the Mauna Kea summit itself. These are the routes that astronomically minded visitors to the facilities at Mauna Kea must travel on, and there are things that such visitors should know.
These roads are widely reported to be extremely dangerous. Most car rental companies don't want their vehicles up there -- not even on the Saddle Road, much less at higher places -- and will not honor insurance or provide towing for those locations. I rented from what seemed to be the only agency with no such restrictions -- Harper Truck Rental -- and made the round trip from Hilo to the Visitor Center six times. I hope my report will be useful to other travelers, through I hasten to add that I am by no means an expert on any aspect of vehicles, roads, or driving, and that I did *not* travel on the saddle road west of milepost 28, or on the summit-access road above the Visitor Center.
The good news is, that these roads have been improved recently. A local contact reported that as late as 1999, the eastern Saddle Road was in such sad shape as to be virtually a one-lane road; that is, the pavement edges were so worn that drivers tended to straddle the middle. That is not so any longer. In my opinion, as of mid 2000, the entire route from Hilo to milepost 28, and then to the Visitor Center, had paving, condition, and markings that most Americans would call good to excellent. Shoulders were wide and generous between the periphery of Hilo and milepost 19, but narrower thereafter. The asphalt was new and well maintained. The roads had a yellow centerline of reflective paint, with reflective raised dots, for all their length, and had edge markings of similar quality for most of the way. Sharp and unexpected curves and dips, and other hazards, were well marked.
The bad news is, that the road is twisty and in places very steep, it goes quite high, and it is subject to occasional hazardous weather conditions. Persons from areas where two-lane roads are generally straight, or flat, or at low elevation, may find themselves in difficulty. It is good two-lane blacktop, but it is first and foremost a twisty mountain road. Specifically, the hazards include:
West-coast American amateur astronomers may find some comparisons useful: The roads described are generally comparable to, or a little better than, the main road through Lassen National Park (though some portions have narrower shoulders or are steeper than the road through Lassen). The roads described are much wider and lots less twisty than the upper half of the access road from San Juan Bautista, California, to Fremont Peak State Park, or the upper half of the road from Morgan Hill, California, to Henry Coe State Park.
Harper would not rent any lesser conveyance than a four-wheel-drive sport-utility vehicle for access to the mountains. That was overkill: On the basis of experience in the Sierra Nevada, I am sure I could have gotten up and back in my 1989 Geo Metro safely. Yet I would have had to be careful and cautious in the Geo, and would have had to take my time ascending and descending the steeper slopes. Their vehicle was also expensive -- Harper charged $100 a day for a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo, and that did not include gasoline or insurance.
Anyhow, I did not have any trouble with vehicle access to the Visitor Center. I hope my remarks help you have the same experience, but remember -- as I said before -- my remarks do not apply to the Saddle Road west of milepost 28, or to the summit access road above the Visitor Center.