Hiking the Green Heart of Kauai

Midway between the lush north shore and the sunny south, Kauai's east side (the Coconut Coast of Kapa'a) doesn't see a crush of tourists. But hikers know better. Head inland a few miles to the Keahua Arboretum and you will find several hikes that are among the best in Hawaii.

One beauty is the half-day scamper up Kuilau Ridge, a perfect outing for a quick picnic and for families (less than five miles round-trip, with about 400 feet of elevation). A picnic pavilion with views of the lush valleys (ultra lush) is worthy of a rest, but make sure to continue past there, as the trail snakes along a narrow ridge through a garden.

The Keahua Arboretum lies in the shadow Mount Waialeale, the rainiest spot on earth with more than 40 feet annually. Several longer hikes are available, including the 13-mile trans-island trek on the Powerline Trail, which has a connecting trailhead at Princeville. You can also hike to very near the Blue Hole of Waialeale, a large pool that lies at the foot of the mountain's rippling green face. Check out Kauai Trailblazer, page 84, for tips on visiting this area.

Bonus Hike to Maui's Honolua Marine Preserve

Snorkelers headed to the Honolua Marine Conservation District for some excellent fish viewing also get a short (quarter-mile) tropical hike as part of the adventure. A stream crossing midway on this walk through banyans and dripping vines can be a problem during rainy conditions—but then you wouldn't want to snorkel on these days anyway.

Honolua Bay sits besides Mokuleia Bay on Maui's north shore, part of a marine preserve that leaves the developed resort coast far away without having to drive far. You can check out the snorkeling conditions from Lipoa Point, which is just past the bays, and also one of the best spots in Hawaii to view surfers when the conditions are right. From this vantage point, you can see if stream water intrusion as clouded the waters of the bay. If it's sunny and clear, Honolua gets a big thumb's up for snorkeling, although don't expect to find much of a beach on a rocky shoreline. See Maui Trailblazer pages 72-74.

Hawaii Beach Hiking: Best of Both Worlds

Can't decide whether to take a tropical walk or spend the day watching the waves roll in? No problem. Do both, Brah! Some of the best walking in the Islands is along where the surf meets the land: sand beaches, tide pools, and ocean bluffs teem with nature, no to mention water sports that make for entertaining viewing. The trail is easy to find. Just face the water, and, unless your name is Jesus, go either left or right. But what's simple can turn difficult in a splash.

1. Stay well back of the surf line. Rogue waves take lives frequently in Hawaii. Keep your eye on the surf and stay above sloping, wet sand.

2. Since the entire shoreline of Hawaii is public land, a trail will always be along the shore, if at all possible. In remote areas, when rocks are encountered, look for sand patches left by the feet of people (often net fishermen) who have gone before you. They will lead the way.

3. On reefs, if wave action is present, stay back from wet areas. Waves snatch people from reefs more often than sandy beaches.

4. If you encounter cliffs or bluffs, look for a trail. If there isn't one, then the walk is probably not possible or hazardous. Remember: It's much harder to come back down a steep surface than it is to go up. And, cliffs in Hawaii are notoriously unstable.

5. At Waikiki, or other crowded beaches, be careful not to step on anyone. Chances are, they are covered in lotion and you will go down.

6. Barefoot is the preferred mode of travel. Watch out for Teva-like sandals that strap to your feet. Wet sand will chew feet to hamburger.

7. Carry flip flops for rough areas. If you find yourself shoeless in scorching sands, dig down just a few inches where the sand will be much cooler. You can then proceed some more steps without frying the feet.

All the Trailblazer guides list virtually all possible coastal walks, from beachcombing wild places to people-watching on paved resort strolls. You can review and purchasethe them at Trailblazertravelbooks.com

Big Island's Lapakahi: Same as it Ever Was

 

Hawaii is dotted with many archeological sites reflecting the traditions of the seagoing Polynesians that date back 2,000 years or more. Get beyond the tiki torches and umbrella swizzle sticks of resort areas and you can enter this lost world. This is especially true on the Big Island of Hawaii, which is 5-million years younger that other parts of the island chain and flora hasn't had a chance to cover the sites up.

One of the first areas to be preserved, about 50 years ago, was Lapakahi State Historical Park. The villlage quietly receives the surf on the west coast of Kohala as it has for some 800 years. Kohala is the green nub on the north of the Big Island, with Maui rising across the channel. Pathways wander through the central village site and the surrounding 300 acres that were once agricultural terraces. The onset of cattle ranching in the 1800s (Parker Ranch, the nation's largest, is up the slopes of the mountains) disrupted water supplies and sent marauding cows through these lands, spelling doom for the village. The lava stone platforms and wall that remain today were once the foundations of hau-branch structures, woven together and supporting roofs of thatched ki leaves and with floors made cushy with mats. See page 41 of Hawaii the Big Island Trailblazer. (BTW: the birthplace of The Great One, King Kamehameha is not far away on this coast.)

A Walk on the Wild Side, Kauai

The resort coast of Poipu ends, and ends abruptly, beyond the Grand Hyatt on Kauai's sunny south coast. The unpaved road becomes one unending pothole for a few miles before reaching wild Mahaulepu. There, a mile or two of sand backed by an ironwood forest runs from Gilian's Beach to Kawailoa Bay. Snorkeling is good-to-excellent, with clear, reef-protected waters. Monk seals often haul out to join sunbathers (though people need to give these endangered fellow mammals 100 feet of space).

From road's end Kawailoa Bay, a trail hugs ragged coastal bluffs for a mile, dipping into a cove and then coming to an end at Haula Beach. Above this little bay, a hunter's trail switchbacks up a head of land and comes to a remote overlook of Kipu Kai Beach—which was the "ranch" featured in the movie, "The Descendants." Kipu Kai is private property. Kayakers also access this beach (all beaches are public land) by paddling around the head of land visible from Kawailoa. This paddle, though not extreme, is not for beginners or for anyone else when the surf's up.

Clooney Walks on Water in Descendants

Hanalei Bay Stand Up Paddling

St. Regis Princeville Beach

George Clooney, Shailene Woodley (playing his teen daughter), and the crew took a classic Hawaiian beach walk when they barefooted the sand from below the St. Regis Princeville Resort to the long curve of Hanalei Bay in the movie, "The Descendants." If you'd like to walk these footsteps in real life, be advised that you will have to cross the wide and often deep Hanalei River. To get to Hanalei from the resort on dry ground, a six-mile drive is required.

Abandoned terraces, Hanalei Colony Resort

At the mouth of the Hanalei River—as far as you can walk from the St. Regis—is a stunning patch of ground from another one of Kauai's glamour moments: the lush terraces of the old Hanalei Colony Resort, which was the "estate" featured in "South Pacific." Up from the terraces are some high-end home sites, one of which (getting back to the "Descendants") is the future home of Laird Hamilton—who plays the chunky blond guy who was in the speed boat incident with Clooney's wife. Hamilton is as well known as any movie star in Hawaii, famous for his athletic prowess and innovation in the use of the jet ski to tow surfers up to the speed they need to ride the big waves—50 feet and higher.

View of Bali Hai from Princeville

Once driving to Hanalei, you can begin the movie family's quest anew, at Black Pot Beach. The pier at this local-boy surfer beach is also a Hollywood fave, having made appearances in three or four films. Black Pot is one of the places to learn surfing. The walk out the pier will turn shutterbugs into fiends at sunset with the surfers gliding by and the stand-up paddlers stroking for open water.

Unlike most Hawaiian beaches, where the sand is often soft and sloping, Hanalei is an excellent outing for hikers and joggers—a likely spot for our friend Clooney to have finally found that cad Brian Speer in the movie world. The cottage depicted in the film is not far down the beach from the pier. This whole zone on the north shore of Kauai is loaded with beaches, many reachable only by foot. See Kauai Trailblazer beginning on page 37 to hone in.

Kauai Stars in "Descendants"

George Clooney? Hard to miss with this guy in your movie. But director Alexander Payne also showed smarts by picking a great novel in the Descendants and then adding the "co-stars" of glamour-puss Kauai and the slack key guitar music of Gabby Pahanui, and others. The result is a movie on the way to greatness. Hanalei Bay is a featured locale in the film, along with Princeville and the Kipu Ranch on the other side of the island. Scenes were also shot on Oahu.

Kauai has a resume that includes dozens of movies. "South Pacific," a 1950s award-winner, though not the first shot here, is credited with boosting tourism significantly. Other movies include Outbreak, King Kong, Jurassic Park, Six Days Seven Nights, Blue Hawaii (Elvis!), Tropic Thunder, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat, Dragonfly, Soul Surfer, and tv's Fantasy Island and Gilligan's Island. It's a long list. A tour company offers day trips. Or, take a look at page 222 of Kauai Trailblazer, which lists movie locales and the films that were shot there. Directions are included, so you can do your own tour. Also available on Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook.

SLIDESHOW: Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Big Island Hawaii

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Get directions to all these places in Hawaii's best-loved guides: Trailblazer Travel Books. The Maui, Kauai, Big Island and No Worries Hawaii now are available as e-books. Buy them for your I-Pad, Kindle Fire or Nook on amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

The Easy Way to see Kauai's Kalalau Valley

The trail to Kalalau Valley on Kauai's roadless north coast is a 22-mile round-trip trek. And it walks like twice that far: don't think about speed hiking it in one day. On the other hand, a bird's eye view of one of the most beautiful views in the world can be had for only a few footsteps. The Kalalau Overlook is at road's end on the west side of the island, by driving to about 4,000 elevation past the rim of Waimea Canyon and through the forests of Kokee State Park. The geography of this place is amazzing. Full directions in your Kauai Trailblazer guide.

Stairway to Koko on Oahu

Thanks to the decrepit railroad ties of a supply line to a military installation in World War II, exercise hikers can hop up more than 1,000 feet to the top of Koko Crater on Oahu's east shore. The crater, which appears as a mountain on the ascent, is across the highway from Koko Head, the onshore knob that lords over Hanaumu Bay, the island's (overly) popular snorkeling venue.

The Koko Crater trailhead is via a regional park that is just down the road in Hawaii Kai. The route is not dangerous, provided you watch your step, particularly on the way down. One short section is at a slope, with spaces between ties, so those with a healty fear of heights may wind up using all fours (like a simpering dog). From the lofty crater rim is a view into the botanical garden that is held in the crater below—and a grand panorama of Oahu and the Pacific. Maui and the Big Island will be in view on clear days.

The Koko Stairs are a training run for extreme sports althletes, although recreational hikers also show up. Bring water and avoid this one on sunny mid-days, when southern exposure is a cooker. Oahu Trailblazer has the deets (including how to use this parking lot to reach Hanauma Bay on crowded days).

Happy New Year Trailblazers

Big Island's Kihilo Black Sand Beach & Blue Lagoon

As is often the case on the Big Island of Hawaii, paradise awaits down a sun-scorched rocky road that is hard to find. In this case, paradise is Wainanali'i (Blue) Lagoon, in the middle of the South Kohala Coast, a hangout for sea turtles. The lagoon was built as a fishpond in 1810 at the behest of King Kamehameha the Great, although lava flows and wave action have done some damage over the years.

Enticed by the view of a turquoise streak from a highway scenic viewpoint, many visitors embark on a dry, wandering trail that drops through a kiawe forest. A better option is to drive down on a state park road that is about .25 mile from the viewpoint. The distance to Blue Lagoon is similar, but the trail is along the coast, easier to follow, and has no drop in elevation.

Kihilo Black Sand Beach, along the Huehue Trail, has excellent snorkeling--better than the lagoon itself, which tends to be milky because of silt, and suprisingly cold, due to fresh water intrusion below its surface.

You'll see a couple mega-mansions along the way, including the hardwood beauty imported from Indonesia by cosmetics tycoon Paul Mitchell. More modest cottages (and some in artful ruin) line a sweet cove just before Blue Lagoon.

Turtles haul out along a lava-banked shoreline, turning crusty white in the sun. Their shells sparkle amber when they ease back into the aquamarine. Hawaii the Big Island Trailblazer has more details.

Mele Kalikimaka, Trailblazers!

Sing-A-Long!

One-horse open surf board: Christmas in Hawaii

Time to put Frosty the Snowman in a Mai Tai and make sand angels? Hawaii awaits, and airlines are offering super cheap deals. Contact trailblazertravelbooks@gmail.com to order Trailblazer adventure guides at discount prices (for two or more books).

Fire, Earth, Water: New Real Estate on the Big Island

Since the Pu'u O'o began spewing melted rock more than two decades ago from the east rift of the Kilauea Volcano, hundreds of new acres of land have been formed at the edge of the Pacific. It's still too early to buy timeshares. But thousands of visitors each week make the drive down from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to see the towering plume of noxious gas that forms when the molten lava meets seawater.

Visitors can also come out at night to see the flowing red rivers of rock. Viewing sites vary with the whims of the lava. On several occasions, some of this new land is highly speculative, including a recent event when some 40 acres of lava bluff cracked off and fell into the ocean.

Hawaii the Big Island Trailblazer has the details and contact information.

Anahola Aloha

Anyone looking for an old-timey, little-grass-shack getaway to Hawaii need look no further than Anahola on Kauai's east shore. Leave the strappy sandals at home. Bring the cross-trainers for some excellent coasta hiking, swim fins for above-average snorkeling, and surfboard to try several good near-shore breaks. And throw in the mountain bike to connect with red-dirt trails that continue miles to Kapa'a.

While your at it, scrounge up a kayak and head up jungled Anahola stream. But save some time to kick back in palm-frond shade and gaze at the Anahola Mountains that surround the three-mile bay.

Also bring some respect for the Hawaiian culture, as Anahola is one of the first communities to be designated as Hawaiian Homelands, thanks to Johah Kuhio, Hawaii's first congressional representatives. For more on this superlative spot—and a number of wild beaches that are nearby—check out Kauai Trailblazer, pages 64 to 71.

Livin' Da Life in Hawaii

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You can get a good workout and manage to be a hedonist at the same time by taking one of the many glitzy resort walks in Hawaii. Pictured here is the Wailea Resorts walk, a paved path along the breakers which connects to three beach parks on Maui's sunny coast. On the north of Maui, Ka'anapali offers a similar chance to hike along resort pools and very good snorkeling beaches.

Poipu Beach is the place to combine fine dining with a coast walk on Kauai. On the Big Island, the Mauna Lani-Fairmont Orchid wild coast combines gardenscapes, lagoons, and snorkeling pools. Same goes for the coast at the Hilton, not far away in South Kohala.

Directions for all the walks are in the Trailblazer Travel Book guides for Hawaii.

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Airborne on Kauai's Nualolo Trail

Nualolo Trail

You'll need a hang glider to continue from the terminus of the the Nualolo Trail, at the Lolo Vista Point, a barren cinder nub lofted about 2,000 feet above Kauai's precipitous northwest coast. The trek is about 8 miles, round trip, with a 1,600 drop on the way out. Sure-footed hikers can make a car-shuttle hike out of it by taking a hairy connector trail that reaches the Awa'awapuhi lookout (pictured in the distance in the bottom photo). After heavy rains, erosion can make the connector trail an experience best left to goats.

Nualolo Vista Point

The Nualolo Trail is one of ten trails and hunters' roads that radiate out from the road at the edge of Waimea Canyon to Koke'e State Park. All end at oh-wow vistas and all involve 8- to 10-mile treks with a drop approaching 2,000 feet on the way out.

To the right of the highway on the way up, is the road's main attraction: red-walled Waimea Canyon, a.k.a. the Grand Canyon on the Pacific. Several trails lead into the canyon, or into the birdland forests along its rim. But wait, there's more: The canyon road ends past Koke'e at stunning overlooks of the Kalalau Valley, with view trails along its upper rim and into the fabulous Alakai Swamp. You want tropical trekking? Head to Kauai (and take a look at pages 151 to 171 of Kauai Trailblazer).

The Green World of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island centers around the Kilauea Caldera, a barren crust of lava that is currently (from its Halemaumau Crater) spewing metric tons of noxious gasses into the atmosphere. The vast moonscape of the park on the island's east side is connected to, but a world away, from its newest section: 116,000 acres of tropical forest that will bring out your inner Tarzan.

In 2003, HVNP doubled in size when a portion of the former Kahuku Ranch was added. The easiest access to the lush forest is a long way from the main park entrance. The best way to get there is off Lorenzo Road, near the turnoff to South Point, about 50 miles away (see Hawaii the Big Island Trailblazer, page 117). Park official guess that plans to develop and publicize this area of the park will be completed in 2016. But it's open for adventurers right now.