Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [137]
From Army Beach you can proceed another 1.5 miles down the road, passing still more white-sand beaches with aqua blue waters. You’ll usually find someone shore-casting and a few folks living out of their cars. The terrain is scrubland reaching up to the base of the Wai′anae Range, while the shoreline is wild and windswept. The area is not only desolate, but can also be a bit trashed.
The Farrington Hwy ends at the beginning of the dirt path leading to rocky Ka‘ena Point (Click here), which connects to the Wai‘anae (Leeward) Coast. You can hike or mountain bike around the point but you can’t drive. To get to the other side by car, you’ll have to backtrack to the highways that buzz through Central O′ahu.
Hiking
The 5-mile Kealia Trail (Map) ascends from Dillingham Airfield up a cliff-face and through a forest of ironwoods and kukui trees. The snaking trail switchbacks its way up the cliff, offering ocean views along the way, but the real prize is its connection to the Kuaokala Trail (Map), which brings hikers to a justly celebrated viewpoint over Makua Valley and the Wai′anae Range. The Kealia Trail is best for those wishing to avoid the hassle of securing a permit and driving up the Wai′anae (Leeward) Coast just to hike the Kuaokala Trail, a 5.5-mile loop trail accessible from the Ka′ena Point Satellite Tracking Station. The trailhead to Kealia Trail begins in the back of the airfield; head west 2 miles past the main airfield entrance and just before the airfield ends, take the road marked Gate D and follow it inland 0.4 miles. Just before the air control tower parking lot, there’s an access road on the right. Walk around the old storage hangar to begin the trail. Give yourself about three hours to walk the Kealia Trail and back, and another three hours if you add on the Kuaokala loop.
If all that walking sounds like too much work, all of the trails are also open to mountain bikes.
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CENTRAL O′AHU
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride – Central O′ahu is the forgotten region of the island. Squashed between the buzzing south and the hip north it’s more of a thoroughfare then a destination unto itself. Take heed – for those with the time and the inclination there are some worthy stops along the way.
Three routes lead north from Honolulu to Wahiawa, the region’s central town. The freeway, H2, is the fastest route, whereas Kunia Rd (750), the furthest west, is the most scenic. The least interesting of the options, Farrington Hwy (93), catches local traffic. From Wahiawa two routes, Kaukonahua Rd (803) and Kamehameha Hwy (99), lead through scenic pineapple country to the North Shore.
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HAWAII’S PLANTATION VILLAGE
The lives of the people who came to Hawaii to work on the sugarcane plantations are showcased at Hawaii’s Plantation Village (Map; 677-0110; www.hawaiiplantationvillage.org; 94-695 Waipahu St, Waipahu; adult/child 4-11 $13/5; tours on the hr 10am-2pm Mon-Sat). The setting is particularly evocative, as Waipahu was one of O′ahu’s last plantation towns, and its rusty sugar mill, which operated until 1995, still looms on a knoll directly above this site.
The place encompasses 30 buildings typical of a plantation village of the early 20th century, including a Chinese cookhouse, a Japanese shrine and authentically replicated homes of the ethnic groups – Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Puerto Rican and Filipino – that lived on the plantations.
To get there by car from Honolulu, take the H1 to exit 7, turn left onto Paiwa St, then right onto Waipahu St, continue past the sugar mill and turn left into the complex. Otherwise, take TheBus No 42 from various Waikiki locations to get there.
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HONOULIULI FOREST RESERVE
Honouliuli Forest Reserve is home to nearly 70 rare and endangered plant