Hiking the Kamiloʻiki Ridge Trail on Oʻahu
Distance: 4.2 miles / 6.8 km
The Kamiloʻiki Ridge Trail in Hawaiʻi Kai is one of the easiest ridge hikes on Oʻahu to reach the Koʻolau Summit, which cannot be said about other ridge trails across the island.
That being said, Kamiloʻiki is not a managed trail, meaning it can be a bit more difficult to access and navigate compared to others around the island; this is largely why so few hikers choose to venture up the beautiful trail.
Kamiloʻiki Ridge Trailhead Parking
Parking for Kamiloʻiki Ridge is located on either Makahuena Place or Hawaiʻi Kai Dr., depending on which route you choose to start from.
Google Maps Directions: Makahuena Place / Hawaiʻi Kai Dr.
Hiking the Kamiloʻiki Ridge Trail
In my opinion, all of the hard hiking on Kamiloʻiki Ridge is right in the beginning, but it really depends on what route you use as your trailhead.
Kamiloʻiki Ridge can either begin at the end of Hawaiʻi Kai Dr. or the Pāhua Heiau. I think Hawaiʻi Kai Dr. may be the easier of the two, but in either case, they are both shown below.
Hawaiʻi Kai Dr. is shown on the left, and the path behind the heiau route is shown on the right.
Hawaiʻi Kai Drive Trailhead
If you’re on Hawaiʻi Kai Drive, look for the trail on the right after the last house in the neighborhood. It likely won’t be marked with anything.
If you’re starting from the heiau, the trail in the photo above may be hard to find at first, but it will connect with the same area shown two photos below.
Once at this point, there’s only one trail to reach the top of the ridge, which in my opinion, is the most difficult part of the hike.
The Switchbacks
Shortly after the trailhead, Kamiloʻiki climbs a few switchbacks before reaching the top of the ridge.
Kamiloʻiki Ridge
Once on the ridge, the hiking becomes significantly easier compared to the trailhead area and the switchbacks.
Simply follow the ridge line until the forested area shortly before the summit.
The trail goes around this cliff face to the right.
This section is short, but it’s definitely a no-fall zone.
Once in the forest near the summit, keep on the lookout for the most obvious trail heading up.
It can start to look a little vague in a few places.
Just before the summit, Kamiloʻiki Ridge will climb a few more switchbacks before reaching the viewpoint.
After the first switchback, look for a hard left turn up the ridge.
Kamiloʻiki Summit
After only 2.1 miles (3.4 km), the Kamiloʻiki Ridge Trail ends at a beautiful overlook above Waimānalo Beach below!
Here, you can see notable places, like Mt. Olomana, the Lanikai Pillboxes (Kaʻiwa Ridge), and, on the clearest days, Kualoa Ranch!
Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST)
If you weren’t planning on hiking past Kamiloʻiki Summit, don’t continue on the KST, as summit trail is always more difficult than the hike it took to get there.
That being said, the next notable summits to the north include Mariners Ridge, followed by Pyramid Rock and Kuliʻouʻou Ridge; to the south, the next significant trails are Kamehame Ridge (Deadman’s Catwalk), followed by the Makapuʻu Tom Tom Trail.
Read My Separate Post: Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST)
Native Plants on Kamiloʻiki Ridge
For a ridge that’s covered in invasive Fountain Grass, there are a surprising number of native plants to find on Kamiloʻiki.
The most abundant is easily ʻUhaloa, but others include the Hoary Abutilon, ʻIlima, Alaheʻe, ʻAʻaliʻi, and ʻIlieʻe to name a few.
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
