Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
One of the common plants found on this trail is banana poka, a member of the passion-
fruit family and an invasive pest. It has pretty pink flowers, but it drapes the forest with
its vines and chokes out less aggressive native plants. The trail ends near YWCA Camp
Sloggett, about 0.5 miles from Kokeʻe Lodge.
Pihea Trail to Alakaʻi Swamp Trail
HIKING
(
www.hawaiistateparks.org
; Kokeʻe Rd, Kokeʻe State Park)
This 7.5-mile round-trip trek begins
at Puʻu o Kila Lookout. A mere mile in and you'll see the
Pihea Lookout
. Past that and
after a short scramble downhill the boardwalk begins. After another 1.5 miles you will
come to a crossing with the Alakaʻi Swamp Trail. A left at this crossing will put you on
that trail to the
Kilohana Lookout
.
Continuing straight on the Pihea Trail will take you to the Kawaikoi campground
along the Kawaikoi Stream. Most hikers start on the Pihea Trail because the trailhead is
accessible by the paved road to Puʻu o Kila Lookout. For another trailhead, begin at the
Alakaʻi Swamp Trail starting point, but that requires 4WD. The trails are well main-
tained, with mile markers and signs. Note: the stretch between Alakaʻi Crossing and
Kilohana Lookout includes hundreds of steps, which can be hell on your knees.
Alakaʻi Swamp Trail
HIKING
(
www.hawaiistateparks.org
)
The Alakaʻi Swamp trailhead (7 miles round-trip) begins on a
ridge above Sugi Grove on Camp 10-Mohihi Rd. While this trailhead covers less steep
terrain than the beginning of the Pihea trailhead, you will need a 4WD to get there, as
well as the ability to follow a map along an unmarked dirt road.
Park in the clearing at the trailhead; the trail begins as a wide grassy path for roughly
0.5 miles to where the boardwalk begins and continues through small bogs and intermit-
tent forests until you reach the Alakaʻi Crossing, where the Pihea and Alakaʻi Swamp
trails intersect. Continuing straight through the crossing, the boardwalk becomes a series
of steep steps to the Kawaikoi Stream and a steep series of switchbacks up the other side.
You'll need to traverse a shallower second valley before the boardwalk becomes relat-
ively flat, continuing through the almost otherworldly terrain of knee-high trees and tiny
endemic carnivorous plants.
The boardwalk ends at Kilohana Lookout, where, with a little bit of luck, you'll see
views of Wainiha Valley and beyond to Hanalei Bay. It's so close you can almost dream
of having drinks at the Nui without having to traverse and drive all the way there from
the far Westside. Yet, when a road-building effort was launched several years back in the
hopes of creating an island loop road, the Alakaʻi Swamp literally swallowed their ef-
forts. Well played, Island Gods. Well played.
