Oahu Coastal Loop - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 222

4. Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens
Off Rte. 83 to the south of Kaneohe, tucked against the base of the Koolau Range's mo-
numental cliffs, lie 400 acres of gardens known as Hoomaluhia, where botanists nurture a
dizzyingarrayofnativeHawaiianflora.Visitorscanhikeonwell-markedtrailsorstrollthe
shores of the garden's placid lake.
5. Kahekili Highway
Known as the Kahekili Highway, this stretch of Rte. 83 between Kaneohe and Kahaluu
embraces a series of lovely stopping-off points. At the 19th-century estate called Haiku
Gardens, breadfruit trees, lily ponds, and a great sheltering banyan are the backdrops for
a restaurant and secluded thatched huts that attract local wedding parties. The Byodo-In
Temple, two miles farther north, is a detailed replica of a 900-year-old Kyoto shrine, set
against the lofty cliffs of the Koolau Range. Here colorful carp drift though a placid pool,
andpeacocksstrutpastagreatstatueofBuddha.TwomilesfartherdowntheroadisSenat-
or Fong's Plantation and Gardens, named for the first U.S. senator of Asian descent. Some
700 bougainvillea-drenched acres represent Oahu in miniature, with sugarcane fields and
nearly 100 varieties of edible fruits and nuts.
6. Kualoa Regional Park
Rte. 83 hugs Kaneohe Bay along a four-mile stretch north of Kahaluu, and side roads lead
inlandtothefarmcountryoftheWaiaholeandWaikanevalleys,wheretree-ripenedpapay-
as are offered at roadside stands. North of Kaneohe Bay are the sugary sands and nodding
palms of Kualoa Regional Park. From this windswept point visitors can hike, at low tide,
about 500 yards to the cone-shaped island whimsically dubbed Chinaman's Hat. As you
gaze back at the beach and distant cliffs, look for shorebirds flitting overhead.
7. Kahana Valley State Park
Like a stony sentinel, a natural rock formation called the Crouching Lion signals the ap-
proach to Kahana Valley State Park (officially called Ahupua'a O Kahana State Park),
where a lightly traveled five-mile path meanders through more than 5,000 acres of iron-
woods,coconutpalms,andothertrees.Ontheoceansideoftheroad,acountyparkoffersa
glimpse of the Huilua Fish Pond, a watery enclosure used long ago by Hawaiians to corral
fish.