Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail

District map of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii

Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail is on the Big Island in Hawaii of the United States of America.

Understand

Established in 2000 for the preservation, protection and interpretation of traditional Native Hawaiian culture and natural resources, the Ala Kahakai NHT is a 175-mile trail corridor full of cultural and historical significance. It traverses through hundreds of ancient Hawaiian settlement sites and through over 200 ahupua'a, or traditional sea to mountain land divisions.

The trail is still being created.

History

The Ala Kahakai was designated as a National Historic Trail by the U.S. Congress late in November 2000, and in the summer of 2001 the trail office was officially opened.

Landscape

Cultural resources along the trail include several important heiau (temples), royal centers, kahua (house site foundations), loko 'ia (fishponds) ko`a (fishing shrines), ki‘i pohaku (petroglyphs), holua (stone slide), and wahi pana (sacred places).

Flora and fauna

Trail section

Natural Resources include anchialine ponds, pali (precipices), nearshore reefs, estuarine ecosystems, coastal vegetation, migratory birds, native sea turtle habitat, and several threatened and endangered endemic species of plants and animals.

Climate

The temperatures in Hawai'i are typically in the mid to upper 80s. Rainfall and weather conditions may vary at various locations where the trail is found around the island.

Get in

The trail is not open as National Historic Trail, although some sections are accessible by the public under State and County jurisdiction. Visitors are directed to the State Trails (Na Ala Hele) website pertaining to the Ala Kahakai trail. One available section is in Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park.

Sleep

Go next

• Ala Kahakai Kaloko-Honokohau Trail