Some paid hikes allowed again
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Three years after the Manoa Falls Trail was closed to commercial hiking tours, the state again is allowing small groups of paying customers to visit the popular 100-foot waterfall.
The Department of Land & Natural Resources will allow a maximum of five 12-person groups a day. Commercial operators will pay the state $5 per person to use the trail — as they have since 1999 — but cannot hike on weekends or holidays.
Curt Cottrell, manager of the DLNR's Na Ala Hele trails program, said on average between 50 and 100 people use the trail on weekdays and up to 200 people a day on weekends. Adding 60 people on weekdays will not hurt the trail, he said.
"We felt that would be the maximum," Cottrell said. "We are only anticipating three to four tours a day once it builds up steam."
Commercial permits were revoked in February 2001 because the state could not enforce its regulations on the trail to keep out illegal tour operators and the trail was suffering from overuse.
The state allows eight commercial groups that have permits to use seven of O'ahu's public hiking trails for tours.
"These are the good guys," Cottrell said. "They are the ones that pay their fees and deserve a crack at going up there and conducting tours."
Cottrell said the trail is popular because it leads to one of the few accessible waterfalls on O'ahu. Activity at Manoa Falls increased after Sacred Falls State Park was closed after a 1999 rockslide that killed eight people.
The Manoa trail was closed for three months in 2002 after a landslide near the falls. The state built an area to safely view the waterfall and put up signs warning hikers to stay away from the landslide area, including the pool at the base of the waterfall.
Kyle Ono of Aloha 'Aina Eco-Tours expects to use the Manoa trail for his half-day hiking tours.
"If there is demand for it and if competitors go there, I will kind of be forced to go there," Ono said.
Ono said he charges $40 per person for the tour and the $5-per-person fee really cuts into his profit. But because the money goes back into maintaining and improving the trail system, he considers it a good thing.
Cottrell said $65,000 was collected statewide from commercial tour operators in 2003, which is enough money for some significant improvements. In Manoa, Cottrell said the plan is to use the money collected from commercial groups to pay for enforcement officers on the trail to keep out illegal operators and to provide public restrooms.
"The revenue we got last year clearly indicates there is a growing interest in hiking," he said.
Jeff Mikulina, director of Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter, said he supports the program.
"That's the type of setup we'd like to see in certain areas, where you have money going back to the resource, there are limits on the number of people and it doesn't interfere with residents' and everyday visitors' experiences," Mikulina said. "It's close to Waikiki and not exactly a pristine native ecosystem, so it is a sensible place to do commercial use."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
