Hawaii State Route 200
The Hawaii State Route 200 , known locally as the Saddle Route , is the shortest connection between Hilo and Kailua-Kona , the two main towns on the island of Hawaii in the US state of the same name .
course
The route, which is still narrow and winding in places today, starts at the confluence of Waiʻānuenue Avenue with Kamehameha Avenue and the Bayfront Highway ( State Route 19 ) in downtown Hilo; in the Puʻu Hono district, near Carvalho Park, the name is first changed to Kaūmana Drive. The name Saddle Road, which the street carries for the rest of the way up to its confluence with State Route 190 near Waimea , is given to the street from the confluence of Ua Nahele Street in the hamlet of Kaūmana belonging to Hilo . Shortly after leaving this town, State Route 2000 , here named Puainako Street Extension, joins the west , which bypasses downtown Hilo and connects to State Route 11 . The undulating route climbs evenly, crossing lava fields of the Mauna Loa eruptions in 1855 and 1881 and offering views of this and Mauna Kea north of the road . Near the Pu'u Huluhulu (2,060 meters), the Mauna Loa Observatory Road starts off in a southerly direction and a few meters later in a northerly direction the John A. Burns Way . Another two kilometers later, at the edge of the lava flow from the Mauna Loa eruption of 1843, the highest point of the route - the Humuʻula Saddle (6,670 feet / 2,033 meters) - and thus the border with the Pōhakuloa Military Training Area is reached. Numerous roads used by the military cross the route over the next 20 kilometers; Bradshaw Army Airfield is located just north of the road near Mauna Kea State Recreation Area . The particularly narrow and poorly developed route crosses the village of Waikiʻi and joins State Route 190 6 miles south of Waimea.