Driving Hawaii Saddle Road

This a photo tour of the drive between Hilo and the West side of the Big Island of Hawaii on Saddle road (Hwy 200). It includes a side trip to the Mauna Kea visitor's center, which is 6 miles up above Saddle road. Saddle road has been under construction for the past couple of years and its drivability changes from month to month. The west side entrance is above Waikoloa Village, between Waimea and Kona on Hwy 190. The east side entrance is in Hilo at Komohana and Puainako Streets.

UPDATE:
The west side of Saddle Road has recently been upgraded to a substantially better road. The huge potholes are gone and a new road has taken its place. Workers are fixing the sides of the new road, which are not yet fit to drive off the road. After the Hamakua District marker on the west side, there are 4 one lane bridges and some places where the drop is so steep it feels like a roller coaster. Goats, pigs and turkeys tend to wander into the road making it a hazard to drive too fast.

At the top of Saddle Road the road has been complete rerouted around Bradshaw Army Air field and Pohakuloa Training area. It is 4 lanes and drives fast. In addition to wild animals, watch out for water trucks bring water to the troups when they are there.

On the Hilo side of Saddle Road, past the Mauna Kea Visitor center road, the road has seriously degraded. Road construction has created 5 portions of the road with no pavement. Workers often stop the traffic to move the huge equipment.

Cautions: There are areas of the road with no cell service; there are no gas stations or stores or manned places to get help of any kind; during bad weather or heavy cloud cover, visibility can be close to zero.

The pictures are segmented into three sections:

• Saddle Road from Hilo to the Mauna Kea Visitor Center
• Mauna Kea visitors center to Saddle Road
• Saddle Road from the visitor's center cutoff towards Waimea

Saddle Road from Hilo to Mauna Kea Visitor Center Cutoff
Saddle Road starts in Hilo at Komohana and Puainako Street (you don't need to go via Kaumana Drive even though Yahoo and Google maps show it that way). Puainako jogs to the right at Komohana where Saddle Road begins. The road is in good shape and newly paved. Work is starting to clear trees on both sides to extend the 2 lane road to 4 lanes between Hilo and the Mauna Kea access road. The road is in bad shape in that area now and hundreds of workers are grinding lava and preparing the road.

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Road from Mauna Kea Visitor's center to Saddle Road
The road from Saddle Road to the Visitors center is at the 28 mile marker where there is a road to the right and a sign that says Mauna Kea Access Road. The visitors center is 6 miles up a relatively steep road to the center at 9000 feet. The visitor's center has a bathroom, displays and a gift store. At the bottom of the road, on Saddle road there is a lone emergency telephone. These photos start at the Visitors Center on a day when the weather on Mauna Kea has shut down traffic to and from the telescopes.

View of housing for visiting scientists and workers from Visitors center

Parking lot of Visitors center

Visitors center

Bathroom in Visitors Center - uses filtered lights

A Road Barricade was set up this day due to ice and snow on Mauna Kea. The road up to the summit has a huge unpaved section that is rugged to drive over. Four wheel drives are recommended. At the top of the summit, the roads are great and fully paved.

Campground near Visitors Center

Road from Visitors Center back to Saddle Road driven in the lowest gear going about 20mph max (17% grade)

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Saddle road from visitor's center cutoff toward Kona
Past the Mauna Kea Access Road on the wesst side there is a camp ground and military base, Pohakuloa Training Grounds. The road has been completely rerouted around the Bradshaw Army Airfield at 6200 feet and is now 4 lanes. Once past the military base, the road goes back to 2 lanes with narrow bridges, but the paving is new.

Watch out for fast moving water trucks and military conveys traveling to and from the base.

Once in the trees, the road is really rough. Cars and vans drive in the middle of the road to avoid the huge potholes. Work is starting on this section of the road.

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