Going there for a few weeks and wanted some info on some hikes, altitude gain etc?
thx.

There are tons of great hikes on Oahu. It depends what you're looking for. Stuart Ball's Oahu hiking book is a good place to start. Dayle Turner does many good write-ups of trails online at a couple of different sites. (google Dayle Turner hike)

Depending where you're coming from, expect Oahu hiking to be hotter, more humid, with worse footing (and occasionally downright dangerous), civilization in view, and stunning scenery. Be careful. Most places present hikes as being scary and they just aren't. In Oahu it's sometimes the opposite. A lot of accidents happen because of steep dropoffs and crumbly or muddy volcanic soil.

My favorite Oahu hikes:

Ka'au Crater (Climbing up a stream past waterfalls, some sections with fixed ropes for aid, technically illegal but no big deal as long as you park legally and enter quietly)

Mariner's Ridge (very short quick climb up to the ridgeline, also technically closed, but EVERYbody uses this trail)

Maunawili Demonstration Trail (winding up down and around some beautiful cliffs)

Kealia and beyond (northwest part of the island)

Kaena Point in winter has seals and albatross.

Any/all of the ridge trails that head upward from Honolulu are beautiful and good workouts. Kuliou'ou is fairly easy and pretty. Hawaii Loa you have to have one person with a Hawaii I.D. to check in. It has maybe the best views. Lanipo is the longest and hardest. Mt. Olympus can be muddy but it's another great one.

Going up Ka'ala, the highest point on the island, isn't easy. It's messy, climby, and can be confusing. But it's a great climb if you have good weather. Lots of people like climbing Olomana, but for me the climbing with the dropoffs at the top isn't fun. I've done it 3 times now, and i always end up saying i'll never do it again.

have a blast...

Oh, and here's a link for the trail system closest to Honolulu. Some real gems in this system, and no losers. http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/nah/H ... System.pdf

Bump? The above poster has helped me a lot. I also am spending a few weeks there this summer with my brother.

There are enough hikes on Oahu to keep you busy for ages. I would also say that it is basically required to do one of the hikes to the Ko'olau Summit. Hawaii Loa is probably the best easily accessible hike, and if you can start with it, it is a great intro to hiking on Oahu. You probably want to try something like it first if you want to get on any more difficult hikes, just to give you a feel for what the trails can be like. If your a little more adventurous you can turn left at the summit of Hawaii Loa and explore the steep, exposed, overgrown ridgeline (long pants required!). Check out my page on here on the Ko'olau Mountains, I have more pages in progress.

That being said the best, easy hike on Oahu by far is Poamoho. It is seldom done and requires a permit from the state (really easy to get) and you are supposed to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle (though you don't need one really). I am working on a page for it and when I have a chance I will get the info to you. This hike is incredible and if there is anyway you can do it, DO IT. I can't stress enough how cool it is, and relatively easy and very uncrowded.

I've hiked on Oahu my whole life, I'll PM you with some more info.

Also should mention the Hawaii Trail and Mountain Club, which does much of the trail work on the island, check there page out at http://www.htmclub.org and there Oahu Trail listing has great info here: http://www.htmclub.org/trails/index.html

As for Poamoho, here is some info on getting the permit. Your supposed to get it a week in advance, but you can do it by fax.

http://hawaiitrails.ehawaii.gov/trail.php?TrailID=OA+08+007&island=Oahu
http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw/trails/PoamohoPermitAppMay2007.pdf/

The trail is 3-4 miles one way, a nicely constructed contour trail that rises gradually to the summit through spectacular native cloud forest, to either an amazing view or a cool experience in the clouds. Permits are only issued for weekends and holidays only, and you need the permit, as it gives you the gate combinations to drive to the trailhead.

I would love to hike with you if I am back in the islands by the time you are there, when will you be on Oahu? If you are at all interested in plant life and native plants, this is my interest, and I would love to share some of my knowledge.

pm mvs and/or check out his page here on sp and http://www.mountainwerks.org.

I can vouch for Alika's knowledge of Hawaiian hikes and plants. He knows his stuff! Be prepared to hike at a stiff pace, he flies up those slopes!

Hey Alika, i lived for a few years on Oahu. I was always interested in traversing across the Ko'olau and somehow ending up at the ocean on the windward side. If i were to go up Poamoho (on a trip back to the islands), how feasible is it to take the KST over to the old, defunct Waikane Trail and take it to the ocean? Or some other trail? I had sort of come to a conclusion that the easiest route would be up old Kawaii Loa and down Laie, but if Poamoho is easy and permits are a go, maybe it would be a better way to go.

For rough reference, i've done most of the standard slippery hikes like Olamana, Ka'au, Ka'ala, and a couple non-standard ones, but i'm not an Indiana Jones daredevil type on the pali.

thanks!

Hey Alika, i lived for a few years on Oahu. I was always interested in traversing across the Ko'olau and somehow ending up at the ocean on the windward side. If i were to go up Poamoho (on a trip back to the islands), how feasible is it to take the KST over to the old, defunct Waikane Trail and take it to the ocean? Or some other trail? I had sort of come to a conclusion that the easiest route would be up old Kawaii Loa and down Laie, but if Poamoho is easy and permits are a go, maybe it would be a better way to go.

For rough reference, i've done most of the standard slippery hikes like Olamana, Ka'au, Ka'ala, and a couple non-standard ones, but i'm not an Indiana Jones daredevil type on the pali.

thanks!

Hey Markv, sorry I didn't get back to you any sooner, I didn't notice your post till just now. This is certainly do-able, the hiking might be overgrown, and would be a long day, but its by no means impossible. However, a problem with the Poamoho to Waikane link-up is a car shuttle. To drive up to Poamoho you need a permit and its a long drive up, and would be horrible to do twice. The standard old way to do this would be to go up Schofield-Waikane Trail and down Waikane, as the top of Schofield-Waikane comes out much closer to Waikane trail, but that trail is not maintained, overgrown, challenging (beautiful) and involves trespassing over an army base to get to the trailhead (or applying and getting permission from the army, which may be difficult). I would reccomend Laie Trail up from the windward side, then down Poamoho for a long, amazing day (or possibly an overnight). Laie is an awesome trail to the summit from the windward side, and there is a water source at the top with an awesome place to camp with a view of the north shore and east shore.

Thanks for your thoughts, Alika. I had figured that the KST between Laie Trail and Poamoho Trail would be too long and bogged down to make a day of it. That's why i had either figured on finding my way down Waikane or finding my way up the old Kauai Loa trail. There's an account from just a couple years ago of someone doing Kauai Loa, and it sounds like a bear but doable. I can't find any recent account of what the Waikane Trail (the windward part of the Schofield-Waikane) is like these days.

But if just dealing with the KST for an extra mile or 2 is easier than either of these two obscure trails, than it sounds like my best bet might be Laie and Poamoho. Looooonnnng day.