What is the highest road in Hawaii, and the highest point in the state highway system?
The highest road is John A. Burns Way, the access road to the University of Hawaii observatory complex atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island. It is not part of the state highway system, but rather is maintained by the University. The road tops out at about 13780 feet (just a little short of the summit at 13796 feet). While much of the road is unpaved and has a 15% grade, restricting travel to 4x4s, the uppermost four miles are paved so that vehicles don’t stir up dust that would get into the telescopes, making this road the second highest paved highway in the United States (after the toll road to about 14160 feet at the parking lot below the summit of Mt. Evans in Colorado), as well as the third highest of all highways in the U.S. (behind the toll roads to the Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak summits in Colorado). John A. Burns Way is open to the public without restrictions to the Onizuka Visitor Center at about the 9200 foot level. (But you first have to take Ala Mauna Saddle Road, which most rent
