Dole PlantationHawaiʻi's 'pineapple experience' in Wahiawā — the record-setting Pineapple Garden Maze, the Pineapple Express train, and a Dole Whip at every turn

Dole Plantation began in 1950 as a roadside fruit stand in Wahiawā, the cool, red-soil plateau at the center of Oʻahu where pineapple once ruled the island's economy. It reopened as a full visitor attraction in 1989 and has become one of the most-visited stops on the island, largely because it sits right on Kamehameha Highway between Honolulu and the North Shore surf beaches — an easy pull-off on the way to or from a day up north. Walking the grounds and browsing the big retail pavilion costs nothing; the draw is the three ticketed experiences and, for most people, the Dole Whip.

The headline attraction is the Pineapple Garden Maze, a living hedge maze of some 14,000 Hawaiian plants with about two and a half miles of paths and eight hidden stations to find — it held the Guinness record as the world's largest maze. The Pineapple Express is a narrated 20-minute train ride looping through the surrounding fields and gardens, and the self-guided Plantation Garden Tour walks you through themed plots showing how pineapple and other island crops grow. Cap it with a Dole Whip, the pineapple soft-serve the plantation helped make famous, from the pavilion's counter.