Perfect Day #44 — Molokai’s Nature Preserves

Kamakou Preserve – Waikolu Lookout
Kamakou, a 2774-acre preserve on the side of Kamakou Peak, Moloka’i’s highest at 4961 feet, starts at Waikolu Lookout. The Lookout is reached by Maunahui Road also known as Main Forest Road. Just before the bridge and MM4 outside of Kaunakakai, turn right on Main Forest Road. It’s advisable to use a 4WD on this dirt road even though in dry weather a regular car can slowly traverse its 13-mile length.

It’s also advisable (not essential) to use your odometer in order to know when to take the right hand of the fork at Mile 5.7 off the Main Forest Road to the Wailuku Overlook road. Very quickly you’ll pass the Nature Conservancy Camp. From the fork in the road to the Overlook is another 4.3 miles. This road will take you directly to the Overlook so ignore any and all side roads. After around 9 miles, you’ll see the Lua Moku 'Iliahi, or the Sandalwood Measuring Pit, on the left. After another mile and a bit, you’ll reach the entrance to the Kamakou Preserve and the Waikolu Lookout.

Although Waikolu's frequent rain and clouds can block views, you won’t be able to miss the Lookout and its incredible panorama of Waikolu Valley and waterfalls plunging more than 3600’. Waikolu translates to "three waters," a reference to many waterfalls that flow over nearby mountains and into the region's streams. A campground at the Lookout makes a wet a chilly base for exploration of the Preserve. (Required camping permits can be purchased from the Department of Land and Natural Resources office, Hwy. 480 in Ho’olehua, M-F 9am-4pm.) Camping equipment is available for rent from Moloka’i Rentals and Tours (553-5663, http://www.moloka’i-rentals.com). A two-person camping package is $20 a day or $80 a week.

At this point it having a guide from the Nature Conservancy would be very helpful to lead the way through the Kamakou Reserve. It’s a three-hour round-trip through dense native cloudforest to Pepeopae Bog with its unique plant life protected by a wooden boardwalk. Along the way, a short detour reveals the sea cliffs of Pelekunu Valley, the highest in the world. You can take a one-day trip from Maui to the Kamakou Reserve. Nature Conservancy staff will pick you up at the Moloka’i Airport at 8:30 am and return you by 3:30pm.

For a bicycle tour through the Kamakou Forest Reserve, contact Moloka’i Outdoor Activities ($75, including lunch and a bicycle, located in the lobby of Hotel Moloka’i, 877-553-4477 or 553-4477).

Mo’omomi Preserve and Dunes
Usually left out of trips to Central Moloka’i, one of my favorite 4WD excursions to nowhere heads out Highway 460 (Maunaloa Hwy.) from Kaunakakai, turn right onto Highway 470 to Kualapu’u and then, instead of taking the road to Kalaupapa Lookout, turn left on Hwy. 480, pass through Ho’olehua Village and take the picturesque dirt jeep road – Mo’omomi Road – another 3 miles to Mo’omomi Beach, Kawa’aloa Bay and the sand dunes of Keonele Beach. If you continue walking along the coast from Kawa’aloa Bay, you’ll find a new beach every 15 minutes or so. Mo’omomi Road also should be on your list of really scenic mountain biking roads.

Mo’omomi Preserve covers 921 acres on the northwest coast of Moloka’i. A 4WD will do a much better job for exploring the two scenic bays and sand dunes and the network of jeep trails along the shoreline of this hot, dry, windy and wild coast. Ideally the Preserve should be seen on one of the monthly, 5-hour guided tours on a Sunday led by the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii (553-5236 or 524-0779 for a schedule and details).

The advantages of an excursion with Nature Conservancy staff are to hear about and visit any of the sites where archaeologists have found adz quarries and ancient Hawaiian burial sites, learn details of discoveries by botanists of endangered plant species, talk to marine biologists studying green sea turtles, and find out about the particularly exciting discoveries by Smithsonian Institute ornithologists pertaining to unique prehistoric birds on Moloka’i. These hikes go through the Keonele Dunes that surely will give you and your kids a fascinating education on vanishing coastal Hawaiian ecosystems. You’ll never look at Hawaii’s shorelines in the same way again.