Recreation
O'ahu's Maunawili Falls Trail offers a walk on the mild side

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Beer and SUV advertisements be damned, one can enjoy the outdoors without turbo-paraboarding naked down a 90-degree mudslide.

Laurie Arakaki navigates one of the few challenges along the Maunawili Falls Trail in working her way up an incline. Michael Tsai • The Honolulu Advertiser

(For more serious hikers, the point-to-point Maunawili Trail starts at the same point and spans 10 contour miles from Kailua to Waimanalo.)

The trailhead is about 50 feet off Maunawili Drive. Wide and mostly unobstructed, the trail rises and falls just a few hundred feet in roughly four out-and-back miles, making it a suitable outing for hikers of all ages and abilities.

The trail starts parallel to an adjoining road, with soft, dry footing provided by fallen ironwood needles.

A set of man-made steps, formed by tracks of recycled plastic, appear at the first hint of incline and are ubiquitous throughout.

After traversing a pair of shallow streams, the trail widens beneath a cool canopy of ohi'a and kukui. Here, the ground is cobbled with smooth stones and shiny, black kukui nuts.

Between bends, the trail is interrupted by an enormous fallen tree. Split near its base, the tree overlays a considerable length of pathway and is wide and solid enough for kids and their parents to walk on — carefully.

Crossing a third stream and meandering through a lush forest area, the trail climbs steadily up step tracks to an elevation of about 400 feet before opening to a breathtaking view of nearby Mount Olomana.

There the trail divides, with the falls trail continuing on the left with a steep descent down more step tracks.

Safety was clearly a priority for trail restoration crews at this section, with liberal amounts of gravel seemingly set on every inch of potentially unstable ground.

A fourth stream crossing lies ahead, and farther down two streams converge and run parallel to the trail.

A long corridor of bamboo spirals downward, eventually leading to a small waterfall.

While tempting, the possibility of leptospirosis in the water makes taking a quick dip inadvisable.

Regaining the 350 feet or so to the juncture is perhaps the most difficult part of the hike, but the effort is relative and well within the range of regular walkers. The rest of the return is almost all downhill.

Because of its ease and accessibility, the trail is popular with families and area residents.

Even on weekdays, the trail is well-traveled — though not necessarily crowded.

Patient, quiet hikers might also hear the grunt or squeal of pigs in the forest, including one named Imu, who, according to several signs posted along the path, was saved by a neighborhood family as an abandoned piglet and eventually re-released into the forest, an appropriate home for the gentler of hoof, it turns out.