FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Aaron Lowe carried water yesterday from the stream to water plantings along the new Makiki Valley Loop Trail.
Makiki trail
segment readyThe loop that begins and ends at the
Nature Center is set to open tomorrow
A new trail segment in Makiki Valley will create a 2 1/2-mile loop that begins and ends at the Hawaii Nature Center.
A dedication of the Makiki Valley Loop Trail will be held at 9 a.m. tomorrow to mark National Trails Day, followed by a chance for volunteers to help plant native plants in the watershed education area along the trail.
The new trail, which opens tomorrow, will allow hikers on the Maunalaha, Makiki Valley and Kanealole trails to bypass the state Division of Forestry & Wildlife's Makiki Baseyard, said Aaron Lowe, Na Ala Hele Trails and Access specialist.
Instead, they can cross bridges over the Kanealole and Moleka streams, passing by more than 300 native and Polynesian-introduced plants, including ilima, pohinahina, ohai, banana, taro, breadfruit and ti leaf.
Explanatory signs give the Hawaiian, English and scientific names for the plants and information about their uses. Future educational displays along the trail and at the nature center will educate about how a watershed works and the Makiki Valley ahupuaa history.
There are historical touches, such as the rock bridge supports for an old carriage road that leads to the Herring Estate coffee plantation, Lowe said.
The project was begun three years ago with bushwhacking of non-native plants to make way for the trail and the new plantings. Students from the charter school Halau Kumana have volunteered on the project for a year and a half and will be chanting in the dedication ceremony, Lowe said.
The new trail is constructed of crushed rock held in place by recycled plastic edgings, to reduce erosion.
"This is just tremendous," said Gregg Dunn, Hawaii Nature Center director.
The nature center has designated $50,000 of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for further development of the project over the coming year.
