Kamananui Trail

The Kamananui Trail is a fantastic hike.  It is a decent length but it never gets too steep.  It starts at the Moanalua Valley Park.  The best part is all of the cool things you find along the way.  There are remnants of an old homestead as well as hieroglyphs on a rock that you can look at.  The side trail for the homestead is on the left side pretty early on during the hike.  There is a sign that talks about it, which is how you will know where to turn off.  When you see the sign for the hieroglyphs, walk up the trail past it a bit until you see a little side trail off to the right.  This will lead you to the other side of the river right up to the rock with the carvings on it.  The whole trail is beautiful, with lots of greenery and cool bridges with pools underneath.  The trail ends when you reach a big clearing and see a sign that has something to do with owls.  Past that point it becomes a different hike, and we didn't go past that point.  This is a great trail to pick if you want to see a little history on a relatively easy hike.

I added my logo to these by mistake.  Whoops sorry!

Pele's Chair

Pele's Chair is an interesting rock formation that is known for being the last place that the goddess Pele sat on Oahu before going to her final home in a volcano on the Big Island, according to Hawaiian legend.  From some angles it looks like a giant chair.  There is also a beach right below the chair that is called "Alan Davis," which is a really weird name for a beach if you ask me.  Haha.  To get to the beach, go to the same place where you start the Makapuu Lighthouse hike and take the dirt path to the right just before the Lighthouse trail starts going up.  It's not very long of a trail and easy to navigate in flip flops.  This is a good beach to go to if you want something a little more secluded.  It would also be fun to go to after you finish the Lighthouse hike.

Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific

The Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific is a cemetery with a large memorial that honors those who fought and died in WWII.  Once inside the cemetery, you can drive up around behind the memorial and then park and walk inside.  The walls are lined with informational mosaics detailing parts of the war, leading to a little chapel in the middle.  On either side of the stairs leading up to the memorial are walls covered with names of soldiers whose bodies were never recovered.  Their website has lots of great information on the history of the cemetery.  This would be a good place to visit if you have some spare time and are interested in war history.

Kapena Falls

Kapena Falls is a fun spot to spend an afternoon.  To get there, park at the very bottom of the curvy drive at Nuuanu Memorial Park.  The trailhead is through the grass on the left side close to the storage shed thing.  You can call it a hike I guess, but it's so short and totally navigable in flip flops.  The short hike is very pretty and has sort of an Indiana Jones vibe.  We noticed this cage up against the rock wall when we were headed in, and on the way back out we finally figured out what it was for.  It protects some hieroglyphs on the rock wall.  Once you get to the falls, there is lots to do here.  There are several spots surrounding the falls that you can jump in, as well as a huge cliff that you can jump off past the far side of the falls.  There are also a couple rope swings on the opposite side of the pool, so there are activities for people at all levels of bravery.  I would recommend this if you want a short hike with a fun reward at the end.

The trail starts through the grass on the right side of this photo

See what I mean about Indiana Jones-ish?

Haven't seen one of these guys here before

The cage...

And what's inside

The huge cliff you can jump off

It made me dizzy just looking over the edge

Making sure the tree is strong enough

Kokohead Trail

If you are in the Hawaii Kai area near Hanauma Bay, that big mountain you see nearby isn't Diamond Head, it's Kokohead.  This ancient volcano has a botanical garden inside the crater, and a heckuva hike on the outside of the crater.  The trail starts near the park at the base of Kokohead on the side closest to Hanauma Bay.  This trail is the hardest hike I have done on the island to date.  It's not particularly long or treacherous, the problem is that it's straight up the mountain.  I was sore in ways that I had never been sore before after doing this hike.  I am glad I can say we did it, but I don't see myself doing it ever again.  The views from the top are okay, but I'd suggest Mariner's Ridge or the Makapuu Lighthouse hike for better views and less strenuous hikes.  If you are on vacation in Hawaii, I would suggest not doing this hike unless you are in really really good shape because otherwise you will spend most of your vacation in pain.

This is the part of the trail where there's no ground underneath you

An accurate assessment

Here we go!

Yep, pretty much straight up

Resting at the top! The guy to the left of me said he was on a tv show called Last Resort

Views from the top

We did it!

Scary tunnel at the top

On our way back down. It's much easier than up, but your legs will be like jello by the end.

Likeke Falls Hike

Likeke Falls is a great hike with a beautiful waterfall at the end.  To get to the trail, park in the Ko'Olau Golf Club parking lot and head towards the back of the lot.  You will see a staircase down where the trail starts.  Once you get down there onto the old Pali road, head up the road and then take a right at the barbed wire fence that is really close by.  Then when you reach the stone road, take a right at the giant tree (someone has drawn an arrow on it.)  The falls are beautiful and probably look good year round because it rains a lot near the Pali.  This is a short, easier hike and is lots of fun.  I'd definitely recommend this one for your vacation.

Old Pali highway