Kiholo-Puako Trail  | Hawaii |  | Hawaii County |  |
Guides |
|
|
Address Highway 19 ( Queen Ka'ahumanu Hwy.) Kailua Kona, HI |
Hours Every day 7:00am - 7:00pm |
|
|
Trail can be accessed by a gravel road, off Highway 19, mile marker 82, right before the Lookout Point.
Description:
Part of the ancient Hawaiian trail system, the Kiholo-Puako Trail runs as a coastal trail along the Kohala Coast. Once used as a major transportation route between villages, Kiholo-Puako travels along the contour of the coast that is still, relatively speaking, pristine and fairly undeveloped. The beauty of the trail is unparallel by many coastal hikes along the leeward coast. It is located along the Kiholo Bay, which is a two-mile stretch of white pebble sand beach; lined with tall palm trees, clear water ponds and three large celebrity-owned homes. The easiest way to access the trail is to take the Kiholo Bay gated dirt road to the coast. It is an unmarked road but can be found at mile marker 82, right before the Lookout Point along Highway 19. Near the end of drive, the road splits. Travel right at the fork to pick up the beginning of the trail. It is easily identified by an old abandoned circular wooden house (which use to be Loretta Lynn’s old house). Pick up the trail by walking to the coast. There is a short section that can be explored to the left of the house. It travels a few hundred yards over the black lava rock to the Luahinewai pond and the Hualalai Flow of 1800. In the distance is a private home that is owned by the Wilson Greatbatch, the man who invented the Pacemaker. Traveling left, the trail is found by the 4WD gravel road that travels north along the coast. Traveling straight when the dirt road splits and parking near the porta-potties and walking the short trail down to the gravel road can reach this portion of the trail as well. Cars and trucks are typically parked along the road where people will come down to camp along the beach, fish and surf. The two-mile beach passes a large yellow house, owned by Lynn and the Bali House, noted for its Balinese architectural design, owned by Paul Mitchell. It continues on to circle around Kiholo Bay, past smaller rental and residential homes, the ancient Hawaiian fishponds, over two small bridges to the beautiful shallow, blue green lagoon that is constantly speckled with sea turtles basking in the sun on the small rock islands of the fishpond. Once past the fishponds, the trail cuts back slightly from the coast and changes radically. Here the trail meets the Mauna Kea Lava Flow of 1859 and continues on over the large black lava rock north to where it meets up with the Old King's Hwy. trail as it travels north 10 miles or so to Puako. This section of the trail is rarely walked more than a mile or two, since it is fairly rough walking and the heat and sun make traveling along the lava difficult and uncomfortable. Though the trail is easily detected as it is carved into the rock. Portions of the foot trail, at Hilton Waikoloa, called the King's Trail and the Ala Kahakai Trail are easily accessible and regularly explored. There is another access trail down to the Kiholo Bay section of the trail. Past the Lookout Point, on the ocean side of the road, just past the guardrail at mile marker 81 is a small dirt trail that never closes. Usually there are a couple cars parked here, if not, it can be spotted by its large indentation off the road, making parking easy along the highway. This trail takes about 20 minutes, give or take, to walk, and meets up with the bay, along side the caretaker’s house. The caretaker is a friendly man who lives the quiet beach life with his family and if he is around deserves a conversation with as he can answer many questions about the area and provides many entertaining tales about Hawaii.
Written By: Hadley Catalano
Features
Kid Friendly
|
Parking
|
Restrooms
Add Your Comments
Please Enter ONLY Comments. DO NOT ENTER Questions or requests for information. They will NOT be answered and will be deleted. You need to contact the establishments directly for answers to your questions.
Map
In This Category
|
See something you like? Something you don't like? Send us your feedback. Let us know what you want to see on Hawaii, it's your web site! Email us at webmaster@kulshan.com
Copyright 1999-2006 Berry International ALL RIGHTS RESERVED