Hiking the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail to Puʻu Lanipō on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
Distance to Puʻu Kainawaʻanui: 6.8 miles / 10.9 km
Distance to Puʻu Lanipō: 7.4 miles / 11.9 km
The Mauʻumae Ridge Trail to Puʻu Lanipō in the southern Koʻolau Mountains on Oʻahu is one of the longer, more adventurous day hikes south of the Pali, comparable to only Kūlepeamoa Ridge in terms of how long it takes to reach the Koʻolau Summit.
For this reason, Mauʻumae Ridge is often overlooked compared to some of the neighboring ridge hikes, like Wiliwilinui and Waʻahila Ridge, which largely has to do with Mauʻumae being a bit longer and inherently more difficult.
This is because there’s more elevation gain and loss over the course of the trail, and Mauʻumae Ridge gets more overgrown as the trail climbs higher, which is something that can’t always be said about other southern Koʻolau ridge trails.
Mauʻumae Ridge Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail is located on Maunalani Circle at the very top of Wilhelmina Rise above Kaimukī.
The trailhead is located at the upper portion of the loop.
Google Maps Directions: Mauʻumae Ridge Trailhead
Hiking the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail
The Mauʻumae Ridge Trailhead begins between a couple of fences on Maunalani Circle, adjacent to 4967 Maunalani Circle.
In the beginning, Mauʻumae Ridge is very easy, as the trail descends about 300 ft. (91 m) over the course of the first 0.5 miles (0.8 km).
Personally, I find this very frustrating since you have to regain all that elevation—and more—after the descent.
This is the top of the steepest part of the descent, with Pālolo Valley paralleling Mauʻumae Ridge to the left.
This is where the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail reaches the bottom, beginning the long, slow ascent to the Koʻolau Summit.
The bench on the far side of the descent is always a nice mental checkpoint on the hike back down from the summit.
When the trail reaches this larger erosion scar, I find it easier to cut to the right through the trees, rather than going straight (left) up the exposed dirt.
On a typically clear, partly cloudy day, there is very little shade throughout much of the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail, which is especially true the higher the trail climbs.
This is why I highly recommend hiking in a hooded sun shirt, which can be useful here and on countless Hawaiʻi trails across the islands.
Know that Mauʻumae Ridge does not always look this well-maintained, but when I took these photos, the Uluhe had been cut back significantly, making the hike much easier!
As the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail moves higher, the overgrowth inevitably gets worse as the trail gets closer to Puʻu Kainawaʻanui.
For this reason, I highly recommend hiking Mauʻumae Ridge in pants, which is something that I do not often say about southern Koʻolau adventures. However, trails like the hike to Puʻu Lanipō, the Wailupe Loop, and even the Puʻu Kōnāhuanui Trail are all exceptions to this, with state-managed trails like Kuliʻouʻou and Hawaiʻi Loa Ridge being hikes for which I would never suggest this.
The pants below are my recommendations that hold up the best with the overgrowth here in Hawaiʻi, but with any hiking pants that need to be durable, make sure that they are at or near 100% nylon. This is really the most important factor!
On the upper elevations of Mauʻumae Ridge, the views of Kaʻau Crater to the north get better and better the higher the trail climbs!
Puʻu Kainawaʻanui
The first summit of Mauʻumae Ridge is not Puʻu Lanipō. Rather, this is Puʻu Kainawaʻanui, sometimes called false Lanipō, as the true Lanipō Summit is the peak just to the south (right) of Puʻu Kainawaʻanui on the Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST).
That being said, I did not continue further on the day I took these photos because the wind was tearing across the ridgeline. It was some of the worst wind conditions that I’ve seen on the summit, so I decided that it wasn’t worth hitting a peak that I’ve been to many times before.
If you are interested in hiking further along the Koʻolau Summit, note that the next notable summit to the north is Puʻu Palikea, more commonly known as Kaʻau Crater, and to the south, the next major trail is Wiliwilinui, with Puʻu Lanipō in between.
Read My Separate Post: Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST)
Native Plants on Mauʻumae Ridge
In the beginning of the trail, you can find native ʻŪlei growing all along the side of the trail.
After the dryer sections in the beginning, it doesn’t take long to reach a predominately native Uluhe, Koa, and ʻŌhiʻa forest that will continue for the rest of the hike.
The most significant native plant that stood out to me were a couple of ʻIliahi trees about 2.0 miles (3.2 km) into the trail. Typically speaking, ʻIliahi grows in much higher numbers on the ridges across central Oʻahu, but this was one of the few times I noticed it on a ridge in the southern Koʻolaus.
If you would like to learn more about these and many other native Hawaiian plants from across the islands, I encourage you to check out my separate post linked below.
Read My Separate Post: Native Hawaiian Plant Guide
