Saddle Road (Hwy 200) is the shortest route between Hilo and the west coast areas of Waimea, Kohala and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is the only route to the Pohakuloa Military Training base and to the Mauna Kea Telescopes and visitor's center.The drive from Hilo to the Kona airport on Saddle road takes at least two hours. It can be longer if you get behind a slow vehicle or run into bad weather.
The road has been dramatically improved over the past years with a new road by the Pohakuloa Military Training base and newly paved road on the west side. The Hilo side is currently being expanded and large sections of it is dirt.
Speeding can be dangerous because of roaming animals, fog, rain and snow. There are no stores or any way to get help on the the road, so if you run into trouble it may require flagging down another vehicle as cell service is spotty. If you decide to drive Saddle road, check the weather conditions on Mauna Kea in advance.
Below are photos of scenery and road conditions on Saddle Road. The photo tour includes a side trip to the Mauna Kea Visitor's center, which is 6 miles off of Saddle road mid-way between Hilo and Kona at Mile 28 and takes at least 20 minutes each way.
Saddle Road from west side of the island to Mauna Kea Visitor Center Cutoff
Saddle Road starts on the west side at the Mamalahoa Highway (Hwy 190) between Waimea and Kona. The turnoff is just north of where Waikoloa Road intersects with the Mamalahoa highway.
Fortunately, the west side has recently been repaved filling the huge potholes.
These pictures are taken from the West side driving east towards Hilo. Water trucks are zooming up and down the mountain to the Military Base.
Here is a video of the scenery from the road
An ATV/Dirt Bike riding area is off Saddle road.
The west side of Saddle Road has many single bridges where you have to stop or slow down before crossing.
The new Saddle road up by the Military Base is four lanes and easy to drive. Watch for animals leaping in front of your vehicle.
Road from Mauna Kea Telescope Visitor's center to Saddle Road
The road to the Mauna Kea Telescope Visitors center is at the 28 mile marker on Saddle Road where a Mauna Kea Access Road sign is posted. The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Center is 6 miles up a steep road at the 9,200-foot (2800 m) level . There is a lone emergency telephone on Saddle road at the turnoff because cell phone service is spotty on Saddle road. The photos below start at the Visitors Center and show the drive down to Saddle road.
The building in the distance is housing for visiting scientists and telescope workers to allow them to remain at a high altitude instead of having to reacclimate from sea level each day. If you are interested in visiting the summit, check out a Telescope tour.
The visitors center building from the parking lot.
Bathroom in Visitors Center - uses filtered lights
The road up to the Telescopes was barricaded due to ice and snow on Mauna Kea
There is a campground near the Visitors Center
Below are photos of the road from Visitors Center down to Saddle Road driven in the lowest gear going about 20mph (17% grade).
At the intersection of Saddle road and the road to the visitor's center is an emergency phone.
Saddle road from the visitor's center cutoff to Hilo
Saddle Road intersects at Komohana Street in Hilo. The road between Hilo and the Visitors Center use to be the best part of Saddle road, but workers have started to widen the road so there are large sections of the road that are unpaved and huge potholes near the construction areas. The photos below show the road from Mile 28 of Saddle road driving toward Hilo.
