sueoz

Hi! We will be heading to Oahu and Kauai the first week in September. We love to hike and want to include some on each of the islands, but we have so much else to do that I think we will only fit in one or at the most two hikes on each island. We love hikes that not only have a great view at the top but lots to see on the whole trip.

Would love opinions on which hikes would give us the "best bang for the buck" on each of these islands. We have done a lot of day hiking and can handle quite a bit but am thinking that with the heat - half day hikes might be the best. But we're open to anything.

Definitely plan to do the first part of Kalalau on Kauai already. I have done a lot of reading and have hiking guide books but still need some guidance here.

Thanks in advance,

sue

LindainOhio

Our all time favorite "great views" hike is the Awa'awapuhi/Nu'alolo Loop Trail but it took us most of the day. We started at Kokee Lodge and hiked down the Nu'alolo--at the end of the Nu'alolo trail is Lolo Vista with a "take your breath away" view out across the NaPali coast and down into the Nu'alolo Valley. We continued across the Cliffs trail (this part was a little scary--check with the ranger to make sure the trail has not washed away), had a picnic at a table right there overlooking the cliffs, and continued on to the Awa'awapuhi Trail--the Lookout on the trail has more wonderful views. The last couple miles of the hike were all uphill and for me were pretty difficult--my husband was fine. We started the hike at 11 a.m. and finished at 5:00. We only met up with about 7 other hikers the entire day.

We did the first 2 miles of the Kalalau a couple days later. It is a nice coastal trail with views all the way. It is also the most famous trail in Hawaii. We enjoyed hiking it but the Awa'awapuhi/Nu'alolo was a more spectacular hike.

MelissaHI

If you start earlier in the day, the heat should not be too bad....also in some areas, mist/clouds/rain can roll in to block your view if you start too late. One such hike is Mount Olomana on Oahu's windward side. It's quite hard but if you're in shape it should be okay. I recently did a hike on the Waianae range--I wish I could remember the name!--it enters through a military checkpoint. those views were also nice but the drive was long.

SandratheGardener

Kalaulau... beautiful coastal views the first few miles at least (we only did the first section to the beach, not all 11 miles). Definitely start this one EARLY (we started at 8 & wished we had begun earlier). Very worth the effort!

Brian_in_Charlotte

We weren't that enthralled with Kalalua, but we started late and didn't get too far. Problem was it was packed with people. And a lot of the first part was pretty wet/slippery.

We actually preferred the hike up to the top of the Sleeping Giant near Kappa. Great views at the top and along the way. Though we had perfect weather, we only ran in to one other couple on the entire hike.

iamq

I like hiking in the Maha'ulepu Beach area in Poipu. There is a fairly extensive explanation and discussion of the area in the Kaui Revealed book.

-Bill

auntiemaria

Long-time friend -- and island hiker extraordinaire -- has a great website with links to all manner of island hiking info:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~turner/htmc/hi-hike.htm