Although Hana is only about 52 miles (84 km) from Kahului, an uninterrupted car-trip takes about 2.5 hours to drive, since the highway is very winding, narrow, and passes over 59 bridges, of which 46 are only one lane wide.

[6] There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hana, almost all of it through lush, tropical rainforest.

Its initial junction is marked as Mile Zero at Route 36, and the highway runs in a southeasterly direction toward Hana.

The road provides access to the community of Keanae, Wailua, and Nahiku, arriving at Hana at mile 34.

Guidebooks often devote large sections to traveling the highway leading to the eastern side of Maui, documenting the many waterfalls and attractions that can be found along the way.

Some guidebooks document the "keep out" areas and ways past barbed wire fences and locked gates to reach attractions.

When completed, the road was 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m) wide, 138 miles (222 km), and paved with hand-fitted basalt (lava) rocks.