Mt. Kaʻala Hiking Trail — Attraction in Oʻahu

Wow! This hike is definitely for the more experienced hikers and not anyone with children as you will be spending a large amount of time on narrow muddy ridges with little to hold onto. The total hike took me 4 and a half hours to complete. You WILL need to be able to pull yourself up muddy climbs using a combination of ropes, roots, wires, and rocks. There is no water on the trail so bring plenty. Also the parking lot is a known theft hotspot so remove any valuables from your vehicle to help avoid coming back to a broken window. And prepare yourself the descent is worse than the way up especially in the top half of the trail. The beginning of the trail starts out with a steady paved incline that will continue for a while until turning to dirt/mud, the incline will continue the entire hike and never stop. As you reach the end of the wide section of trail you will veer left and go downhill and across a stream briefly before continuing back uphill at our usual rate, this is about the point the easy trail ends and it starts to get much steeper, ropes will start appearing and you will need to use them for support since much of your time from here on out will be spent on ridges you do not want to slide off. The climb will continue and will eventually reach a ladder and rocky climb after which is almost entirely rope assisted until you reach the garden at the summit. PLEASE use the brushes for your shoes at the gates when you are nearing the top and protect the natural habitat so that future generations can...

Pretty tough trail. Starting off a concrete incline walk for a mile then dry light elevation through the woods. After that it's a steep incline of moist soil mud with lots of tree roots. Once you get to the fence. It's another good steep incline with soft foundation. Followed by lots of rope climbing or crawling on all 4s up until you get to the slab steps. Once here, you've made it. The veiwpoibt is behind the big golf ball (air traffic radar) took us about 6 hours round trip. Was it worth it? Maybe not but it's just another hike to check off that's high on the list. "Highest point on Oahu" 2/20/20 we didn’t go to Ka’ala this time but we exit off the 3 poles. This time we came from Keawe to no name peak to the 3 poles and down. Pretty much counter clockwise once we hit the 3 poles. Very steep thin ridges. A lot of rock climbing and rock scrambling. We did a lot of team pull ups and rock assisting. Fun, challenging, mental strength. 3/14/20. Kaala falls was a fun journey following the stream up. But dripping waterfalls all the way. We decided to do a loop once we finished the falls with enough people scrambling around. We got through the bushes and made it back on the main trail. Spikes are always an extra...

Great challenging trail with a big pay off. A little over 7 miles round trip and a 3500 ft (1060 m) gain in elevation. The bog section before the peak is phenomenal for anyone obsessed with Hawaiian plants.

General trail - walk up a paved road with moderate incline, pass a water municipal facility where the trail transitions to a dirt road. A covered picnic bench is on the left before the trail shrinks in size goes a long a tiny ridge and then turns left off it, goes down hill, across a stream and then up through a young guava forest. As the trail starts to gain in steepness a mature guava forest appears. The trail begins to get steep enough that ropes appear, many sets of ropes and flora transitioning to more and more natives eventually lands you upon the main ridge spine next to a metal fence protecting the reserve. You’ll climb this ridge and more ropes and even some ladder rungs placed into rocks to end up in the Nature Reserve where everything is covered in moss, native plants dominate and a boarded walkway keeps your feet dry from the bog like soils of this flat expanse. At the far end you’ll emerge at the top of Ka’ala with the giant Doppler dome surrounded by a...