Hiking the Mānana Ridge Trail on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
Distance: 11.6 miles / 18.7 km
The Mānana Ridge Trail is a long and beautiful out-and-back day hike in central Oʻahu, comparable to only a few others, such as Schofield-Waikane to the north and Waimano/ ʻAiea Ridge to the south.
At 5.8 miles (9.3 km) each way, Mānana is one of the longer trails on the island reach the Koʻolau Summit, and being the case, it’s one of the least-crowded state-managed ridge hikes on the island.
Mānana Ridge Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Mānana Ridge Trail is located at the very top of Komo Mai Drive in Pearl City.
This is also the same trailhead for both ʻIliahi and Waimano Falls, meaning that it may be difficult to find parking on a weekend because Waimano Falls is such a popular trail.
Google Maps Directions: Mānana Ridge Trailhead
Hiking the Mānana Ridge Trail
The Mānana Ridge Trail begins at the very top of Komo Mai Drive.
On a different note, don’t forget to pack a headlamp, if you plan to hike as far as the Koʻolau Summit, since Mānana is such a long day hike.
After the trailhead, the first section on the Mānana Ridge Trail follows a service road for the first 0.4 miles (0.6 km) until a water tank shortly ahead.
Mānana-ʻIliahi Ridge Junction
At about 0.3 miles (0.5 km), the Mānana Ridge Trail comes to the first of two connections with the ʻIliahi Ridge Trail to the north.
If you’re interested in learning more about this completely separate day hike off Mānana Ridge, I encourage you to check out my separate article for the trail.
Read My Separate Post: ʻIliahi Ridge Trail
This is where the service road comes to an end, which is always a nice sight after a long day hike to the KST.
In the beginning, the Mānana Ridge Trail will split a few different times, as this is the most popular section of the trail before the split that leads down to Waimano Falls.
That said, the trail will always come together, regardless of which route you choose to take.
Just before the junction for Waimano Falls, the Mānana Ridge Trail comes to this split.
Here, it is possible to go either way to continue up Mānana Ridge, but I recommend going right, as indicated by the arrow.
The trail to the left, up the hill, is just unnecessary, as all the elevation gained up the hill will be lost on the backside.
Mānana Ridge-Waimano Falls Junction
At about 0.9 miles (1.4 km), the Mānana Ridge Trail reaches the Waimano Falls junction.
This is typically where most hikers leave the Mānana Ridge Trail, as the Waimano Falls Trail is, without a doubt, the single most popular reason that day hikers frequent Mānana Ridge.
In any case, go left at this split to remain on Mānana Ridge, toward the Koʻolau Summit.
Read My Separate Post: Waimano Falls Trail
This is where the Mānana Ridge Trail descends the far side of hill previously mentioned.
This article is currently being edited. Please check back later for a more complete version :)
Upper Mānana Ridge-ʻIliahi Junction
Shortly after the bench above, the Mānana Ridge Trail will pass by the upper connection for the ʻIliahi Ridge Loop.
However, I personally recommend hiking ʻIliahi Ridge from the first junction because I think it makes for a more beautiful clockwise hike than in reverse.
Read My Separate Post: ʻIliahi Ridge Trail
Mānana Shelter
At about 2.1 miles (3.4 km), the Mānana Ridge Trail reaches the Mānana Shelter, which is the next most popular point on the trail where people stop hiking up Mānana Ridge after Waimano Falls.
After the Mānana Shelter, the trail becomes a bit more overgrown compared to the beginning few miles. For this reason, I recommend wearing good hiking pants, as the overgrowth on these longer ridges, like Mānana, is always worse than the shorter hikes near town.
The pants below are my recommendations that hold up the best with the overgrowth here in Hawaiʻi, but with any hiking pants that need to be durable, make sure that they are at or near 100% nylon. This is really the most important factor!
Please be sure to close the ungulate-exclusion fence after passing through.
This fenced portion of the trail does not follow Mānana Ridge for long before it veers off the trail.
Within a mile of the summit, the Mānana Ridge Trail becomes much nicer to hike, as you don’t get the feeling of being surrounded by the overgrowth on all sides; rather, you’re more on top of the ridge and have much better views of the surrounding landscape.
It’s always great to see one of the many mountain endemic Naupaka species!
Mānana Summit
After 5.8 miles (9.3 km), the Mānana Ridge Trail ends at the beautiful Mānana Summit above Waiāhole and Kahaluʻu on Oʻahu’s east side. Popular places such as Puʻu Māʻeliʻeli, Mokoliʻi, the Kalāheo Hills, and even as far as Mt. Olomana can be seen on a clear day!
On a different note, the Mānana Ridge Trail is a popular KST access trail, being that there are so few options to reach these middle miles on the Koʻolau Summit.
All said, I encourage you to read more about the entire KST in my separate post, but I strongly advise against hiking north or south from Mānana Summit unless you have undertaken the proper preparation to continue further. I say this because these remote miles are nothing to take lightly, and everything in either direction is more challenging than Mānana Ridge up to this point—especially the trail to the north!
If it says anything, I began my day from Mānana to Poamoho not long after 2 a.m. in order to finish before sunset.
Read My Separate Post: Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST)
Native Plants on Mānana Ridge
Since Mānana Ridge starts at a bit of a higher elevation compared to other Koʻolau ridge hikes, you can being seeing a number of different native Hawaiian plants shortly after the trailhead and continuing to the summit.
Some of these include ʻŌhiʻa lehua, Kōpiko, Alani, Koa, ʻIliahi, ʻIeʻie, ʻOhe Mauka, Kokolau, Naupaka, and Kalia, to truly only name a few.
If you would like to learn more about these and tons of 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
