Kamakou Preserve, Hawaii, United States

5superbird2 5:00 PM Apr 12, 2014

Great nature adventure.
The Kamakou Preserve was very fun and beautiful. The drive up to it is also very fun. You start at Homelani Cemetary and follow that road all the way to the top of the mountain. This road is very rough and only one lane. There are parts for cars to turn into if you meet another vehicle like we did on several occasions. I would only recommend driving this road with a higher clearance vehicle! About half way up you come to the first sign in. From here the road becomes more wooded and has a steeper grade. Lots of this section is right next to cliffs so be careful. Eventually you will come to a clearing that has bathroom facilities and the first scenic overlook. The view was amazing from the overlook with views down to the ocean and waterfalls on your right. Lots of clouds rolled in shortly after we arrived so dont be shocked if there is no view. The next part of the trip is pretty hairy. Only if you have a 4x4 vehicle should you attempt this section of "road". There are lots of washouts, mud, and steep grades. The jeep we had handled it just fine though. A couple miles in you come to a sign that points you in two directions. Turn left to get to the boardwalk. The boardwalk travels thru rainforest that is very pretty. You should be prepared for slick conditions and also to get your feet wet as the boardwalk will sink into mud at points. This hike is fairly easy and will lead you to Pepe'opae Bog. The bog isn't to big but is neat being on top of a mountain. If you keep following the boards that have the metal screen you will get to the other scenic overlook. This part of the trail is more overgrown than the first part and is not as maintained. I also thought it was longer than the first section. There are lots of ups and downs on this part and you cross more streams as well. When we got to the overlook it was filled with clouds. Even though you couldn't see much it was still cool being basically in a cloud. There was a brief breaking up of the clouds that allowed us to see the valley down bellow. This view alone was worth the trip and I could only imagine how great it would be on a cloudless day! All in all, I would recommend this to anyone that likes adventure and is physically fit to hike on loose footing. The hiking part took us about 80 minutes in and out. Altogether we spent 3.5 hours from Homelani Cemetary and back (probably would have spent more time if there were no clouds). Try to get a 4x4 through aloharents.com. It will actually be a jeep rented thru Alamo but you can't reserve a 4x4 on Alamos website.

5R.G. 5:00 PM Aug 6, 2016

Amazing guided hike with Nature Conservancy
One of the most unique, truly native rainforest hikes in Hawaii. However, do not do this except on a guided hike with the Nature Conservancy. You have to plan ahead by seeing the planned dates for the following year and requesting a space. This is released in late December. It's free, and they even drive you up there. Obviously one should make a donation equivalent to what a hike like this would cost with a private company on other islands. Rental cars aren't allowed on the road up to it. I wouldn't even take my own 4WD vehicle up there. On the way back down, a massive branch blocked the road and we would have been stuck there with no cell service if we had not had at least 3 people to move it. Bring a good rain jacket. It was only drizzling the whole time, but we were quite wet even with thick rain coats that they happened to have. You need good hiking boots, long pants. The other reason to do it with the Nature Conservancy is that they will take precautions so that you don't introduce invasive plants. They'll even spray shoe soles with bleach solution. Only 15% of the original Molokai rainforest is left, so please do what you can to protect it. That all said, it is quite beautiful. We didn't get to see anything at the lookouts due to clouds. Still it was well worth it. This was a full day activity from 8:30am-3:30pm.