Hawaii (3,055 m) – World’s Fastest Ascending Road
Mount Haleakala if the domininant geographical feature on the Hawaiian island of Maui. A dormant shield volcano, Haleakala constitutes more than three-quarters of the island. It is also home to one of the world’s largest volcanic craters. A road from the base to the peak climbs over ten thousand feet in just a few miles of road, making it the world’s fastest climbing road in terms of elevation over distance covered. Its name means “House of the Sun”.
Haleakala is one of the sacred volcanoes of Hawaii, and is associated with the deity Maui. It was probably first spotted by Europeans of the Cook expedition in 1778, around the last time it erupted. Haleakala’s crater is immense, thanks to the fact that the upper five-thousand feet of the mountain have eroded away.
Mount Haleakala is one of the most popular sites in Hawaii. Now run as a national park, the road to the peak known as the Haleakala Highway is one of the world’s most famous mountain drives. Built in the 1930s, it consists of hair-raising switchbacks that lead to the observatory and visitors center at the top. Haleakala is easily accessible from Maui’s main city of Kahului approximately twenty miles to the west.
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