Hawaii Highpoint Trail

While you can drive right to the summit of Mauna Kea on the 14 mile access road, the last 7 miles are on a very bumpy dirt road, so make sure your vehicle has plenty of clearance and good tires. All wheel drive will help a lot.The drive up is amazing itself. Usually there is some fog lingering around a very desolate looking forest area until about half way up, when you reach the visitor informa...

Mauna Kea is one of the volcanoes that helped form the Big Island of Hawai’i. However, its last eruption was around 2600 BC. Mauna Kea sits at an elevation of 13,796ft above sea level making it the second highest mountain I’ve hiked as I write this post – just shy of Mt Whitney. Interestingly, more than half of the mountain lays below the ocean’s surface. This adds 18,900ft to Mauna Kea’s heigh...

From the parking area, walk down the narrow, crazy steep four-wheel drive road for 0.75 mile until the road levels. A few 4WD vehicles, either foolhardy (tourist) or knowledgable (local) may be inching up and down. Head to the right toward the beach for 0.45 mile and arrive on the black sand beach. This is the beginning of the Muliwai Trail. To visit Kaluahine Falls, which are located below the...

Prep: Before you go, you must book purchase a permit/campsite for the number of nights that you wish spend. You can get the permits online from the State of Hawaii Department of Natural Resources Website. There are 9 sites located within the valley and some are most definitely better than others. I would recommend trying to get your hands on Site #2 - it is the largest with multiple spots fo...

Located near the northern tip of the Big Island, Waipi'o Valley is one of the most beautiful views that you can experience in all of Hawaii. Waipi'o Valley is an hour and 30 minute drive from Kona and an hour and 10 minutes from Hilo. To access the lookout, take HI-19 west to HI-240. Make sure to drive slow and cautiously as the road narrows the closer you get to the lookout. Waipi'o Valley is ...

Running or biking on Old Mamalahoa Hwy is a treasure! The path is marked as a 'Scenic Drive' but you can park your car along the way and run, or bike through. This area is north of Hilo's downtown so you'll follow Mamalahoa Hwy north (the only highway that goes around the north side of the island) until you see a blue sign pointing east for a scenic drive. This will bring you to the start of th...