Hiking the Wahiawā Hills Trail on Oʻahu
Distance: 4.7 miles / 7.6 km
As far as Oʻahu trails go, the Wahiawā Hills Trail is a bit of a hidden gem compared to other busier loop hikes like the ʻAiea Loop.
That being said, the trail really lives up to its name, with constant elevation gains and losses over the course of the loop.
Wahiawā Hills Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Wahiawā Hills Trail is located at the very end of California Ave., which is the same parking as the more well-known Schofield-Waikāne Trail.
Near the trailhead at the end of California Ave. in Wahiawā, you can either find parking there or the adjacent Puninoni Street.
Google Maps Directions: Wahiawā Hills Trailhead
Hiking the Wahiawā Hills Trail
The Wahiawā Hills Trail starts out on the same trail as Schofield-Waikāne for only the first 0.1 miles before branching off.
It doesn’t matter which way you go. They both meet up shortly after.
Wahiawā Hills-Schofield-Waikāne Junction
After 0.1 miles, the Schofield-Waikāne and Wahiawā Hills Trail split.
Go left to stay on the Wahiawā Hills Trail.
The trail should then start descending steeply down to the first stream crossing.
At the first stream crossing, you may or may not find this little hidden waterfall flowing.
In either case, the loop trail continues on the far side.
Wahiawā Hills Loop Split
The photo below on the left may look like a two-way split to the left and right for either side of the loop, but in reality, this is a three-way intersection and both sides of the loop are on the right (right photo). Don’t go left.
Take the upper trail to hike the south side of the loop first or take the lower trail to hike the north side.
I recommend the upper trail first because I find this half slightly more challenging, so I like to hike it first and return later on the easier trail.
Wahiawā Hills (South Loop)
The upper trail will follow a ridge line until it steeply descends down to the North Fork of the Kaukonahua Stream about a mile ahead.
Eventually, the loop trail will turn toward the stream and descend steeply about 300 ft. down to the first Kaukonahua crossing.
North Fork of the Kaukonahua Stream
When I visited after a rainy day prior, there was no avoiding wet shoes without going off-trail by a lot.
Either way, the trail should be visible on far side.
After the Kaukonahua crossing, the trail climbs back out about 450 ft. on the north side of the loop.
Once of the first ridge, go left.
Wahiawā Hills (North Loop)
At the top of the climb out of the Kaukonahua Stream, stay to the left.
The trail may not be very obvious at first, but it soon becomes more defined.
At this split, go right to take the easier of the two trails.
Go left again.
The most important thing is to keep the stream below on your left side.
At the next split, go left.
The photo below on the left is the correct trail, and the photo on the right is the wrong trail.
Keep the hillside on your left.
The trail will soon start descending once again to cross back over the Kaukonahua Stream, but this time, it won’t be nearly as steep.
North Fork of the Kaukonahua Stream
This climb back out on the lower half of the loop is much more mild than the prior.
This is not the initial loop split from earlier.
Go right to hike back toward the beginning.
Wahiawā Hills Loop Split
This is the initial three-way split from the beginning.
Go left to hike back toward the waterfall and the first stream crossing.
Don’t forget about the last hill back out of there!
Notes
The Wahiawā Hills Trail is a community-managed trail, meaning that you may come across numerous downed trees or landslides like the one here.
I was always able to find my way around any of these obstacles, and I suspect that they came down after recent long periods of wet weather.
Native Plants on the Wahiawā Hills Trail
Generally speaking, the Wahiawā Hills Trail is a low-elevation trail, meaning that it is mostly dominated by non-native/ invasive species.
However, there are still a variety of native plants that you can expect to see such as ʻŌhiʻa, Koa, Uluhe, ʻUkiʻuki, and Kōpiko from what I noticed.
If you would like to learn more about these and other native plants from across Hawaiʻi, check out my separate post.
Read My Separate Post: Native Hawaiian Plant Guide
