Everybody says "Pukalani" means "hole in the heavens." An alternative meaning might be "heavenly door or gate." If you drive with your windows rolled down, you'll notice that there is a certain place along the Haleakala Highway, just as you reach Pukalani, where the air changes. Residents swear they know they are almost home when they feel the cool of the mountain's breath coming down to meet them.

Pukalani is an unassuming place. The area grew as people living "down-country," in Kahului, Wailuku or Kihei, discovered the temperateness of Pukalani's climate and the more leisurely lifestyle. The half-hour commute to town seemed a small price to pay in exchange.

The Pukalani Terrace Center, a strip mall that includes the upcountry branches of two banks, several local fast food places, a Laundromat and Foodland sits across the Pukalani Avenue from the Hannibal Tavares Memorial Center and the Upcountry Pool. At the end of Pukalani Avenue is the Pukalani Country Club and the Pukalani Golf Course.

On either side of the old Haleakala Highway, between the Pukalani Avenue and the Makawao Avenue intersection are several service stations, and a couple of smaller strip malls, including McDonald's and Minut Stop. There are also small office buildings and the Pukalani Baptist Church and Preschool interspersed among older homes on either side of the street. With the advent of the Pukalani By-pass, which parallels the old highway, looping up from the old highway just above the Haliimaile Road junction and hooking up to the Kula Highway/Haleakala Highway junction, most of the traffic along the old Haleakala Highway is local… or lost tourists.

Along the bit of Makawao Avenue between the old Haleakala Highway and the Bypass, amid pineapple fields, Pukalani Superette still remains a local favorite. Also along that bit of road is another bank, another strip mall and the Makawao Fire Station.