Destination: Oahu : Inside Tracks : A local family’s favorite hiking trails, with a waterfall and shave ice as rewards

On the rare occasions when I’ve ventured the 15 miles from our home into Waikiki for banquets or to rescue visiting friends, I’m surprised to see families holed up for their Hawaiian vacations, exploring no farther than the concrete behemoths that jut to the once-fabled beach.

Even if they book an island tour, they’re almost always herded past the glorious hiking spots the locals know will stay safely unclaimed.

I know those places, because my husband grew up here. The trails he tackled as a Boy Scout are now the day trips our 7- and 9-year-old sons enjoy. He has shown us an insider’s Oahu--from a mountain trail dotted with spindly haole koa trees that leads to abandoned World War II pillboxes, to a pristine, Olympic-size swimming hole at the base of a thunderous waterfall.

Our favorite rambles are on the wet and lushly vegetated windward (northeast) side of the island, within a scenic, hourlong drive from the high-rises along tourist-packed Kalakaua Avenue. And for Waikiki-based families willing to rent a car and pack a good pair of hiking shoes, they provide a refreshing contrast to neon-hued cocktails and Kodak moments.

Not that you wouldn’t want to take a camera, should you venture just over the Pali Highway, which tunnels through the rainbow-bedecked Koolau Range. Once there, your choices for hikes are varied: through Kailua to the exclusive Lanikai subdivision, or toward the North Shore beaches.

Hawaii residents lost their internal compasses over time, out here in the land of the tiny latitudes. We gauge where we are in relation to that land: the direction mauka (say MAU-kah) means to the mountains, and makai (say muh-KIGH) means to the sea. So don’t bother asking a resident how far north the hike is, should you get lost. In Hawaii, direction-giving is as much an art as a history lesson:

“You go down the mauka side of the Pali, turn left where the drive-in used to be, but now there’s just a road into the hills. You’ll see some trees where people put up ornaments last Christmas, but they won’t be there now. . . .”

Sure, you could check a map, but where’s the fun in that?

I remember the directions my brother-in-law gave me when we took our boys up Kaiwa Ridge near Lanikai for the first time: “There’s a fence to the one side by the condominiums, and you go up the steep part on the other side, the haole koa side. But they may have the sprinklers on. . . .”

The way his voice trailed off led me to believe sprinklers would not be a good thing.

A caveat: When he said steep, he meant steep . This is not a hike for young children or the weak of spirit. The trail narrows as it nears a cliff, and my maternal heartbeat raced as my children skipped, carefree, ahead of me. My husband gently reminded me of all the times he ventured beyond his parents’ or Scout leader’s reach and lived to tell about it. But I wouldn’t let a little one get too far ahead.

Once we conquered the initial incline, plus a few treacherous rock walls farther up, we find panoramic views of the teal-and-turquoise Kailua Bay, Lanikai Beach, and the abandoned World War II pillboxes (housing for artillery) where the children like to take their first break.

At this point, my maternal pulse is again sent throbbing--the cement pillboxes are strategically set into the cliffs--as the boys clamber into and atop the structures. Every time I wipe the sweat from my brow, drop my itty-bitty pack of granola bars and relinquish my tiny canteen, I think of the soldiers who braved the same trail with cement and steel to erect those pillboxes 50 years ago.

The small, dark pillboxes were hastily constructed after the Pearl Harbor bombing to house armaments in the event of another attack. They were never used in battle. Now, only the gunnery platforms and an easy peace remain. Since my boys’ grandmother is Japanese American, this is a chance for a family history lesson.

There’s also cacti--common in such rocky, wind-swept locations. They flower each spring and summer, and we always take time to hunt their bright red blooms.

A friend of ours who helped cut the newly completed Maunawili Trail, which heads from the Pali Lookout to Waimanalo, tells me it’s about eight miles each way--but my brood has never made it that far. We’ve followed the ridge a couple of miles to a clearing with a view to the ocean. All along the ridge are sweeping panoramic vistas of the Windward Coast, majestic cliffs and Mt. Olomana. From the ridge, you can see native plant life-- uluhe ferns (false staghorn ferns) cascading down the hillsides, punctuated by massive koa and flowering ohia trees.

If opportunity is on our side, my family can partake of a day trip to Sacred Falls. Opportunity--and Mr. Sun--must be smiling upon us, or otherwise we find the gate locked. With a very real flash flood danger looming, the park closes if there’s even a hint of rain. How often is that? We’ve tried four times this year to hike Sacred Falls and ended up elsewhere each time but Memorial Day weekend. Summer--Hawaii’s dry season--is the safest time to try.

It’s easy to overshoot Sacred Falls State Park, especially in the morning, the best time for families to hike. The unassuming entrance has its sign behind a parking area, unheeded by the masses heading to the Mormon-run Polynesian Cultural Center, about five miles up Hawaii 83 (Kamehameha Highway). The ocean-hugging drive--it takes an hour and a half tops to get there from Waikiki--is lovely, with fruit stands and snorkeling to lure a family on pit stops. But we’ve learned it’s best to get the hourlong hike to the falls under way before the midday sun saps little bodies of their already limited stamina.

The hike starts long before the actual trail. A road closed to public vehicles takes you past private banana orchards and unusual dry-land taro patches (most taro is grown in marshes and swamps) before you reach the trail head, about a mile in. The mountain apples you’ll see along the way should be ripe for picking in late July or early August, and they’re fair game. We’ve always just missed the tart, baby-fist-size fruit during its prime picking season, or passed them as they were budding.

Michael, my youngest son, enjoys the nature lesson this trail affords. On our last trek, some fellow hikers gathered kukui nuts in the wild--shiny black nuts that look more like pebbles than the kukui nut leis you’ll find in Waikiki’s International Marketplace--and told us that the nuts are valued for their oils, which Hawaiians used to light as candles. Armed with that information and a grubby nut, Michael almost forgot his 10-minute water break.

That’s one thing our family has learned the hard way: Remember to bring plenty of cold water. We load up a sports bottle with ice cubes, and it’s just about ready when we need a refreshing swig. Augustine, my oldest, finds the hike goes much faster if there are granola bars and cellophane-wrapped treats somewhere in his father’s fanny pack. (Another incentive: the promise of a post-hike detour to Matsumoto’s shave ice stand, a popular spot about half an hour’s drive beyond Sacred Falls.)

The payoff for the Sacred Falls hike is that natural, Olympic-size pool, a ledge for jumping into said pool and the four-story falls themselves. While the pool is dark and forbidding before lunchtime, as the afternoon sun moves to a more complimentary position, it gains a luster. However, you still can’t see to the bottom.

Augustine marvels at the depth: “Daddy can’t even touch the bottom!” he tells whoever will listen.

While we in Hawaii are spoiled by bathwater ocean temperatures, Sacred Falls wakes you up like a cold shower in the morning. Another of my husband’s brothers recounted to a friend (who claimed to have some Hawaiian ancestry) that after swimming in the frigid water for a while, his muscles froze up.

“Those are the spirits,” said his friend.

My brother-in-law might have believed him if he hadn’t experienced the same sensation swimming in Lake Michigan.

According to another legend, the pig god Kamapuaa leaned against the cliff so his relatives could climb his body and escape their enemies. This made the waterfall chute. Yet another legend I read about said ancient Hawaiians believed the pool was bottomless and led to another world inhabited by a demon. For obvious reasons, I have not relayed that particular story to my children. When they ask why people have left stones wrapped in ti leaves (a large, broad-leafed green plant) along certain trails, we merely explain that they are sacrificial offerings.

Warning signs alert parents to very real dangers. Sacred Falls is set nearly three miles into the Koolau Range along the rocky bed of Kaluanui Stream, which the trail crosses in several spots, and a sudden downpour can bring severe flash floods.

While we haven’t had any close calls, a Boy Scout troop was once caught unawares, and their hair-raising tale of traversing the rushing stream filled the front page of the Honolulu papers last year.

*

When my family and I have been turned away at the locked gate, we head to Hauula Loop trail, a couple of miles farther north. It covers more than twice the elevation of Sacred Falls--700 feet versus Sacred Falls’ 300 feet--but we manage.

Truth be told, the person doing the most huffing and puffing is usually me, but I explain my speed, or lack thereof, this way: “I’m just enjoying the scenery.”

And there is plenty of scenery: You dip into a gully and through a patch of the Norfolk pines that remind me of the Rockies I grew up in, though that historical reference bypasses the boys.

They are certain this is where “Jurassic Park” was filmed (Bzzzt! Thanks for playing. But the correct answer is “What is Kauai?”), complete with ancient ferns and horseflies the size of hummingbirds.

This walk is made up of two 2 1/2-mile loops (the other loop is Maakua Ridge trail), and if you are met with rain, which we have been, take it slowly through just the Hauula portion, which is slightly easier. Both trails have similarly lovely views of the little towns of Hauula and Laie, as well as the North Shore coastline.

Hauula Loop may be a more workmanlike trail, while Sacred Falls could be described as a regal one. But both offer a view of Oahu most tourists won’t see: a view of my husband’s--and now my sons’--childhood in paradise.

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GUIDEBOOK: Oahu Walkabout

Sacred Falls State Park: From Waikiki, take Interstate H1 to Hawaii 63 (Likelike Highway); follow that to the Kahekili Highway. Kahekili merges onto Hawaii 83 (Kamehameha Highway) as it snakes up the Windward Coast. The park entrance is on the mountain side of the highway after Kaaawa and before Hauula.

Hauula Loop: Continue up Hawaii 83 (Kamehameha Highway) past Sacred Falls State Park about three miles to Hauula Homestead Road. Park there or one block farther at the Hauula Beach Park, then continue on foot to Maakua Road. The trail head is past the fork in the road; stay to your left.

Maunawili Trail: You can start at the Pali Lookout on Hawaii 61 (Pali Highway) about 10 miles from central Waikiki, but easier access is to continue another half mile down Highway 61 to the turnout by the hairpin turn. At the mauka (mountain) side is a trail that leads to the trail head, about a half a block up through the trees. Turn left at the Maunawili trail head.

Kiawa Ridge: Take Highway 61 (Pali Highway) from Waikiki to Kailua, about 11 miles. Turn right at North Kalaheo Avenue; follow that about two miles to Lanikai. In Lanikai, turn right on Kaelepulu Street near the entrance to the Mid-Pacific Country Club. Park past the entrance and before the Blue Stone condominium complex, or back on Kaelepulu. The trail, which is not maintained, begins at the steep incline next to the condominium fence.

Matsumoto Shave Ice: (66-087 Kamehameha Highway in Haleiwa, about a half-hour drive north of Sacred Falls; telephone 808-637-4827) The granddaddy of all shave ice stores.

Safety: Don’t leave valuables in rental cars, and lock up your car near trail heads.

For more information: Call Hawaii State Parks information (tel. 808-587-0300) for details on Sacred Falls. Call the state Department of Forestry and Wildlife (tel. 808-587-0166) for details on the Maunawili Trail and Hauula Loop. “The Hikers Guide to Oahu,” by Stuart M. Ball Jr., University of Hawaii Press, is available at local bookstores.