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The commercial and population center of Moloka’i, Kaunakakai was once a canoe landing for access to fishing grounds, and the beach was exclusively for the recreation of chiefly families. In the 1800s it became a plantation town – first sugar and then pineapple – in the early 1900s. This charming one-street town has changed little in the last 70 years.

Kamakou Preserve lies near the summit of Moloka’i’s highest mountain. This lush rain forest is home to more than 250 species of Hawaiian plants – 219 of them found nowhere else in the world – and a unique array of birds, such as the Moloka’i thrush (oloma’o) and the Moloka’i creeper (kākā-wahie) . The seemingly barren dunes of Mo’omomi shelter rare coastal species, Hawaiian archaeological sites, and native shorebirds, like sanderlings and plovers. Both preserves are open to the public, but each is remote and access requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Located off of Highway 450 at mile marker 11, this small rural church was built in 1876 by Belgian priest Father Damien, who was best known for his work at the Hansen’s disease settlement on Kalaupapa (see Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Moloka’i). Standing outside, and often draped with flower lei in tribute, is a statue of Damien. The door to the church is always unlocked, and visitors are welcome to enter.

The extreme eastern tip of Moloka’i is marked by the Hālawa Valley. It lies at the end of a scenic winding road, and an overlook at the valley’s entrance offers a breathtaking view of the 250-ft Moa’ula Falls cascading down the mountain and the freshwater stream running to the ocean. Take the road down into the valley, but do not cross the inlet as the other side is private property.

Also known as the Sugar Mill Museum, this 19th-century industrial building was the work of R.W. Meyer, a German immigrant engineer. When the mill first turned in 1878, it used real horsepower and a steam engine to crush and process sugar cane. Recently, it has been lovingly and beautifully restored, and now exhibitions are held regularly. You can also take a self-guided tour through the mill.

Cut off from the rest of the island by sheer cliffs and surrounded by the ocean on three sides, this isolated peninsula became the place where Hansen’s disease (leprosy) sufferers were quarantined. It’s now a spectacular National Park encompassing more than 10,000 acres of land and water. (see Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Moloka’i)

Located on the southwest shore of Lāna’i, this deserted precontact Hawaiian village was once a vigorous fishing community. There are stone foundations of more than 100 homes, storerooms, garden walls, and burial sites, as well as the stone platform of the Halulu Heiau temple, the ruins of a canoe hale (house), a large fishing shrine, and a platform of the cliff-side home of Kamehameha Nui (I). Signs are dotted around with information about the sites and ruins.

Up, up from Kō’ele through mountain grasslands, where rain forests of pine, ironwood, and eucalyptus line the mountain’s backbone ridge to the island’s summit, Lāna’ihale, the Munro Trail offers spectacular views of nearby islands. The trail is named in honor of former ranch manager George Munro, and it was he who planted the ridge and highlands with the Cook Island pine trees you can see today. The intent was to draw moisture from the passing clouds and provide an adequate watershed for the island. Foot or four-wheel drive vehicle are the best ways to travel the trail.

One of the most exciting and fascinating collections of petroglyphs in Hawai’i, Luahiwa is hard to find but, once there, easily viewed. Covering numerous boulders on the hillside, these well-preserved drawings, carved by early Hawaiians, represent men and women, family units, pets, canoes, and, possibly, a surfer.

No verdant oasis of foliage and flowers, Garden of the Gods is an eerily beautiful, windswept landscape of red, purple, and ocher rocks, sculpted by the raging forces of nature into irregular pinnacles and buttes. Sunsets are particularly spectacular here.