Here's a hot tip: Maui's an elegant pick for an off-roading adventure. And if you're visiting, the best way to travel is on an ATV with a guide. Guides can take you where no one else can go, over rolling hills and high forest terrain on private land once the exclusive province of ranchers and cowboys.
One of the biggest ATV companies is headquartered on the historic Haleakala Ranch, a 30,000-acre spread incorporated in 1888 on the slopes of Haleakala. Still a working cattle ranch, the property stretches from the ocean to the borders of Haleakala National Park. An ATV ride across this open country is a different kind of tropical experience, a day in old Hawaii with the convenience of a motorized, go-anywhere vehicle at your command.
Some of the tours might include a short hike through a rainforest where you'll see native trees and ferns in their natural environment, vegetation not significantly changed in thousands of years. Stop for a picnic lunch or maybe even combine the tour with zipline treks and downhill bicycle rides.
ATV companies use 4-wheel drive quad ATVs with automatic transmission. No experience is necessary, but you must be at least 16 to drive.
