Sightseeing on Hawaii 270 - Hawai'i Island

Retracing our path from the Pololū Valley during our February 2014 visit, we made a few additional stops.

Kēōkea Beach Park

Located one mile down Kēōkea Beach Road, this county park has picnic tables, restrooms, a pavilion with a kitchen and a rocky beach.  While it isn't a prime location for swimming or surfing, it was an excellent location to relax and watch the ocean.

Parking can be a bit of a problem on weekends

View from the pavilion

Pavilion with tsunami siren in the background

The pavilion contains picnic tables, a kitchen and restrooms

The rocky beach of Kēōkea Bay

Kēōkea Bay

A wave crashes ashore

The breakwater at Kalalae Point provides protected access to the water

A lone surfer takes on the waves beyond the breakwater

Kapaʻau

King Kamehameha I was born near here at Moʻokini Heiau on the coast west of Hāwī and the Upolu Airport.  The Hawaii legislature appropriated $10,000 for a statue to commemorate the 100th anniversary  of the arrival of Captain Cook to the islands.  It was sculpted by Thomas R. Gould in Florence, Italy and sent to Paris, France to be cast in bronze.  After a shipwreck in 1883, the casting was thought to be lost at sea near the Falkland Islands, but it was recovered and placed at Kapa'au while a replacement statue was placed at ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu.

The original King Kamehameha I statue

Copies of this statue are located in Honolulu and in the US Capitol Building

Upolu Airport Road

After seeing wind turbines from a distance, we decided to drive down Upolu Airport Road to see if it went near them.  The two mile road actually forms the western border of the wind farm.  Upolu Airport was built by the federal government in 1927.  The general aviation airport consists of a single 3800' long asphalt runway with an airplane tie down area and a small service building.

The Hawi Renewable Development Wind Farm at Upolu Point has been in operation since 2006

The wind farm consists of 16 Vestas 660-kilowatt wind turbines

The coast of Maui is 30 miles from the Upolu Airport

Admission to all attractions mentioned in this post is free.

While there is not a Kēōkea Beach Park website, the county does provide a map and description of the park at http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/pl-n-kohala-map2.

Pololū Valley Lookout

Continuing our tour around the northern end of the Big Island in February 2014, we drove to the end of ʻAkoni Pule Highway, Hawaii route 270, and an overlook of the Pololū Valley.  Parking is extremely limited, but the views are worth the hassle.  A trail provides access to the beach over 400 feet below, but we didn't have time to explore it.

A wee bit of congestion on the highway

Most people managed to park completely off the road

Black sand beach at the mouth of Pololū Valley

Pololū Valley

Clouds dim the view of the valley

Islets off the beach

The cliffs are over 500 feet high

Waves break on the coral reef just offshore of the beach

Pololū Stream meanders through the valley

Another view of the beach

There is no fee for parking or hiking at Pololū Valley Lookout.

There is no website for Pololū Valley Lookout.

Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site

We decided to spend a day traveling around the north end of the Big Island of Hawaii during our February 2014 visit.  Our first stop was at Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site.  This site marks the location where, at the suggestion of a kahuna or priest, King Kamehameha I had a luakini heiau or sacrificial temple built to gain the favor of the war god Kūkaʻilimoku.  Measuring 224 by 100 feet, the temple was built without mortar and entirely by hand in less than a year.  The stones were brought from the Pololū Valley by use of a 14-mile human chain involving thousands of warrior laborers.  Once the temple was completed in 1791, Kamehameha invited his cousin Keōua, the ruler of the eastern side of the island, to Pu'ukoholā for a peace conference.  Upon landing, Keōua and his party were killed by Kamehameha's warriors and their bodies were used to dedicate the temple.  Having gained control of the entire island of Hawai'i, Kamehameha set out to conquer the rest of the islands with Maui falling in 1794 and O'ahu in 1795.  Kamehameha I became the first king of a unified Hawai'i in 1810.

The visitor center for the historic site is located on the ocean side of Kawaihae Road, Hawaii route 270, about ½ mile northwest of the junction with Queen Kaahumanu Highway, Hawaii route 19.  A paved parking area of sufficient size is labeled for one-way traffic with the exit entering the neighboring Spencer Beach Park.  The visitor center houses an information desk, several exhibits, a small bookstore and a video theater.  Selection buttons for six videos ranging from the 1½ minute "Parker Ranch" to the 27 minute "Boyhood of Kamehameha I" allow visitors to make a selection without having to wait for a specific start time.  As is customary for National Park Service films, the writing, acting, cinematography and production are first class.  Adjacent to the visitor center are restroom facilities with running water.

Leaving the visitor center, a free cell phone audio tour provides narration for the ½ mile loop trail that swings past the Pu'ukoholā Heiau as well as the older Mailekini Heiau before dropping down to the beach to traverse a short section of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail before climbing back up to the visitor center.

Parking area

Visitor Center

Plaque on the visitor center wall

Ocean view from the visitor center

The loop trail is paved

Pu'ukoholā Heiau

Due to the fragile nature of the heiau, access is only allowed for Native Hawaiian cultural activities

Five hundred year old Mailekini Heiau was used as a fort by Kamehameha I

Mailekini Heiau in the foreground with Pu'ukoholā Heiau on the hilltop

Palm trees dot the beach area near the ancient harbor

Replica double-hulled canoe

The purpose of this wandering wall is unknown

A portion of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail as it enters Spencer Beach Park

The loop trail and the theater end of the visitor center

Looking back at the Pacific Ocean from the end of the trail

Admission to Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site is free.

The historic site website is http://www.nps.gov/puhe/index.htm.  

The Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail website is http://www.nps.gov/alka/index.htm.

Roadside lava tube - Queen Kaahumanu Highway

One unexpected stop on our February 2014 visit to Hawaii was at a lava tube beside Queen Kaahumanu Highway just south of Kekaha Kai State Park and north of the Kona airport.  During our excursions, we noticed a number of vehicles parked along side the road in the area so we stopped to see what was there.  We found a 200 foot long section of a lava tube on the mountain side of the highway.  We decided to explore a bit as shown in the pictures below.

The lava tube is about ten feet high at the visible entrance

Broken rocks litter the floor of the tube

Looking through the tube at light streaming in from the far entrance

The tube contained a jumble of rocks with flow patterns

A better view of the far entrance from inside the tube

A section of the floor slab could have been cut by a saw, but wasn't

Additional small tubes radiate out from the main one

Looking back toward the highway

The is no fee to visit the lava tube.  There is no website about it either, but it does appear on USGS topographic maps.