Eucalyptus trees form a mile-long tunnel with their canopies almost meshing together at Kauai, Hawaii. People who visit Koloa Town insist on driving through this canopy, taking a detour off HIghway 50. How did all these trees come about? There are three leading theories, backed up by myth and intrigue, mostly, but they all point to Hawaii’s colonial past, not indigenous tales. One theory is that Walter McBryde, a businessman in lumber and sugarcane farming, planted these trees, almost 300 of them, excess or purposely for decoration. Some even suggest these trees were planted to break the wind for the sugarcane farms nearby. Another says that the Knudsen family imported these trees from Australia to solidify the boggy area around the road.

Whatever the reason, over 100 years later, the trees stand over the road as a testament to a work of natural art created through coincidence. The trees are so beautiful, the canopy recovering despite the two hurricanes that shook the area in 1982 and 1992, that it is worth driving multiple times through the mile-long tunnel. Legends say that the tunnel used to be 3 miles long at some point, and that’s the only downside to it: that the experience doesn’t last longer.