Twenty six miles into the street to Hana is an oasis referred to as The Backyard of Eden. The arboretum on the outskirts of Hana opened in 1996 after proprietor Alan Bradbury’s first imaginative and prescient for his majestic hideaway failed. The lifelong musician purchased the land in 1991, with hopes of constructing a recording studio the place he may invite musicians to return create in an idyllic setting.
As he started constructing the studio, his hopes of sonic glory have been quickly dashed. The salinity of the air and the moisture of the rainforest have been unconducive to a thriving recording studio, which was now filled with prematurely rusting electronics. He sat on acres of property with seemingly no objective. Till at some point, he left the gate to his property open and watched as a trickling of holiday makers entered his verdant grounds. Bradbury – a licensed arborist with a background in park improvement – realized then the potential to create a strolling backyard, which he ultimately named The Backyard of Eden.
What can I anticipate finding at Backyard of Eden Maui?
Although it’s received fairly the namesake, its fertile valleys and trails do the identify justice. As you enter this botanical paradise, you’re greeted by free-roaming peacocks in all their teal splendor. Tiny geese quack their means alongside trails to a pond that serves as their headquarters. Crimson, waxy anthuriums pop and ferns sprawl in all instructions. Lush is an understatement. On the entrance, a pleasant gate attendant arms you a map to the two.5 miles of meandering jungle trails that lie forward. You Select Your Personal Journey from there. Discover the Bamboo Alley to a small orchard, or head to the Keōpuka Rock Overlook for a glimpse of the seaside simply past the Hana Freeway. One other path leads you to a postcard view of Puohokamoa Falls. Regardless of which route you go, your inner-tree hugger will likely be delighted.
The backyard boasts 150 inches of rainfall a 12 months, which feeds over 700 species of crops and timber — that includes Koa, Rainbow Eucalyptus and Bamboo — some donated by the late George Harrison of The Beatles – a Hana resident.
It took 5 years to arrange the land earlier than the arboretum formally opened to the general public. Bradbury toiled, eradicating invasive species by hand and with heavy excavation equipment. He changed these with endemic crops, studying which of them would thrive finest primarily based on numerous trial and error. “What you see right here at this time is a mix of practically 30 years of devoted work and dedication,” Bradbury mentioned. “Whereas my buddies have been on the seaside or blissful hour, we have been out right here manifesting our imaginative and prescient.”
Backyard of Eden Excursions, Items and Meals
The Backyard of Eden can also be residence to some impartial companies. Rappel Maui is a tour firm that takes guests to Puohokamoa Falls. The Backyard Gallery and Present Store carries a slew of locally-made crafts from lotions and candles to watercolors. Savor Maui is the backyard’s café, which peddles native delicacies like Kālua Pork and Scorching Honey Ham. The entire companies add to the attract of Hana’s magnificence, filled with lush valleys and dripping foliage.
The Backyard of Eden’s supervisor emphasised the intention to make the property really feel like a sanctuary. There’s safe parking for guests, a number of waterfalls and naturally the entire wildlife. It’s particularly vital to the employees that everybody, together with individuals touring with households and the disabled, be capable to see all of it. In response to the Backyard of Eden web site, the property is managed with out pesticides or herbicides, besides to manage extremely invasive non-native species, a part of Bradbury’s dedication to leaving the world a greater place.
“We’ve tried to do our half with stewarding the land in a really conservation-oriented means,” the backyard’s supervisor mentioned.
Garden of Eden, open every day from eight a.m. to four p.m., together with holidays. $20 for adults, $10 for youngsters ages 5-10. free for youngsters beneath 5. Reductions for events of 5 or extra, navy, college students, AAA members and kama’āina. 10600 Hana Hwy, Haiku, HI 96708 808-572-9899.



