Maunawili Demonstration Trail

I haven't been hiking...so I haven't been blogging. Instead, I spent a good portion of the summer working.  This stay at home mom got a job!  I love working again, but it has been a period of adjustment for me, my boys, and my hiking schedule!  Now that the kids are back to school (one entered tenth and the other entered first grade), I am trying to get back to a routine of hiking...even if it is only once or twice a week as opposed to the four or five days I was getting used to before working.  Since I haven't been as active as I would like, I figured I better ease back into hiking with some less strenuous/dangerous trails to get my hiking legs/lungs back.  Today I eased back into Tuesday Trails with the bestie (and an added addition of my oldest who had a teacher work day off from school) with some exploration of the Maunawili Demonstration Trail.

The Maunawili Demonstration Trail connects, intersects, and travels to several other trails on the Windward side.  Some folks know this trail as the Pali Trail.  Some folks start this trail in Waimanalo near the Maunawili Ditch Trail.  Our trio picked up the trail off of the Pali Highway beside a small lookout parking area near a hairpin turn going towards Kailua.  This trail can also start at the Pali Lookout, but that route was closed today due to a rock slide.

Pretty shortly after starting the trail we came to a fork, one direction led up towards the Pali Lookout and the other led towards Waimanalo.  We headed up first and intersected with the Old Pali Road and the Pali Twin Falls, territory we have hiked previously.  After some guava picking, conversation, and photos, we headed back the way we came, to the initial intersection...now things got interesting as we headed down the Maunawili Trail towards the Demonstration Trail that we initially intended on doing.  Uncharted territory is always my favorite part of a hike.  Almost immediately we saw a couple of streams, mini waterfalls, beautiful views of the backside of Olomana (another epic hike), and the majestic cloud shrouded Ko'olaus.  The Demonstration Trail, from my research, is over nine miles long, traveling from the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout to Waimanalo in the foothills of the Ko'olau Mountain Range on the Windward side.  I knew we wouldn't have time to complete the entirety of this gorgeous trail, but was thrilled to get in a couple of miles.

From what we saw of the combined Old Pali Road portion and the Maunawili Trail portion, the Demonstration Trail is relatively kid friendly.  There were a few small patches of mud, a couple of very small stream crossings, a water tower, and fruits and greenery galore.  There is much to still be explored on my next trip out.

But for today, it was great to get outside, back to nature, and exciting to learn of a new to me trail that I can feel good about taking my family on.  I am so surprised that this trail isn't more widely talked about.  I rarely hear about it, but yet it was so enjoyable.  A best kept secret.  I imagine after a big rain or several days of some rain, this trail could be very different, possibly upping the difficulty level, but still nothing our family couldn't achieve as long as we have our hiking shoes and our back pack of water with us.

The Demonstration Trail was impressive because even my anti-hiking teen was able to find  a few moments of happiness along the way---a ringing endorsement for sure---when he discovered guava, ripe for the picking.  I hope he liked the views too, but he was definitely impressed with the fruit options.  Note to self, take teen to hiking trails with fresh fruit he can pick.  When their mouth is full of fruit, they can't complain...my new family motto.

If you find yourself looking for a trail on the Windward side, I recommend checking out all, or a portion of, the Maunawili Demonstration Trail.  This trail meets up with Maunawili Falls as well, another fun waterfall adventure for the books.  I hope to get back to this trail again soon to wander further down its winding beautiful paths.  

Once again I found myself pleasantly surprised with how a trail so easily accessible could have gone unnoticed by me for so long.  I'm so glad that both me and my oldest (and the bestie too) had the day off to share a hiking adventure together.  I think we all needed some good nature vibes.  And we found them together at the bottom of the mountains.