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Hiking trail planned KAHAKULOA, Maui >> On a plateau once used as pasture in Northeast Maui, state trail specialist Carrie "Torrie" Haurez points to a group of about 50 endangered ohai plants protected by a barbed-wire fence.
for N.E. Maui
The half-mile 'Ohai Trail is still
being reviewed by the stateBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com
Hikers traveling along a new trail at Kahakuloa would be able to view the ohai enclosure and several other native plants once the trail opens.
The proposed 'Ohai Trail, a half-mile long and considered suitable for beginning and intermediate hikers, is being reviewed by the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
The proposed trail is located makai off Kahekili Highway, about eight miles north of Wailuku.
To get there requires driving along hairpin turns next to cliffs on a road that sometimes narrows into a single lane and rises along the edge of precipices with sweeping views of the coastline.
In a coastal area where a steady wind blows, the endangered ohai grows along the ground with leaves resembling a baby shower tree and a sunset-red flower about a half-inch long.
Like many other native plants, the ohai does not have many defense mechanisms, such as a bitter taste or thorns that would discourage animals from eating it.
The plant is found on all the major Hawaiian Islands except Lanai but has diminished significantly because of urban development and foraging by cattle, according to state officials.
"The native plants are like ice cream to goats, cattle, pigs," said Haurez, the Maui coordinator of the state Na Ala Hele trails program.
Haurez said ranchers of adjacent land have been cooperating with the state to make sure no cattle enter the enclosure, and the state is working with a plant society group to see if it might help take care of the native plants.
State officials were hoping to open the trail this year, but the inaugural date may change depending on the length of an environmental review.
Haurez said the exact trail route is still being planned, although bare patches of earth show the wear of some foot traffic over the rolling hillsides.
Haurez said the proposed 'Ohai Trail was selected after a number of people said they wanted a hiking trail in Kahakuloa that was safe and accessible.
Once opened, the 'Ohai Trail will be the 19th trail on Maui under the Na Ala Hele program and among the shortest.
The longest Maui trail is the 7-mile Upper Waiakoa Trail in the Kula Forest Reserve. Haurez said the state hopes to open a 20th trail on Maui mauka of the Kahakapao water treatment plant in Upcountry Maui next year.
The 3-mile Kahakapao Loop Trail would be available to horse riders and mountain bikers.
There are currently three state trails available for mountain biking on Maui. Horse riding is allowed on state land only on the Upper Waiakoa Trail.
Maps showing the location of the trails on Maui and other islands are available at state Department of Land & Natural Resources offices.
The maps may also be viewed at the Na Ala Hele Web site at www.hawaiitrails.org.
Maui County
