Hiking the Mokulēʻia Trail on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
Distance (Roundtrip): 6.2 miles / 10.0 km
The Mokulēʻia Trail in the Waiʻanae Mountain Range on Oʻahu is one of the island’s best-kept secrets.
I say this because, much like the Kuaokalā Trail located further west in the mountain range, the Mokulēʻia Trail is one of a few where the trailhead begins high up in the mountains already, making the trail’s access seem more intimidating compared to other North Shore adventures, such as the Kaunala Trail.
By this, I mean that to hike the Mokulēʻia Trail, you need to consider one of two ways to access the trail. The first and easiest method is to hike the trail while camping at the nearby Peacock Flats, which takes away the need to hike to the trailhead.
The second and more practical method is to hike in via the 3.6-mile (5.8 km) Mokulēʻia Access Road from the North Shore because this method doesn’t require any advanced planning.
Furthermore, the distance above is only the distance from the Mokulēʻia Trailhead in the Waiʻanae Mountains, not the unofficial trailhead at Peacock Flats. It doesn’t include the 3.6 mile-(5.8 km) hike up the access road from the North Shore or the 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from Peacock Flats to the trailhead.
In all, the roundtrip distance from the North Shore is 14.4 miles (23.2 km), but hiking the Mokulēʻia Trail from this direction is not as bad as it may seem, as 8.2 miles (13.2 km) are simply walking on a road to get to and from the actual trailhead. That’s 7.2 miles (11.6 km) on the access road and 1 mile (1.6 km) roundtrip on the road past Peacock Flats.
Mokulēʻia Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Mokulēʻia Trail depends entirely on which route you choose to begin.
Shown below, there is a dirt parking lot for the Mokulēʻia Trail right before the trailhead, or if you are starting from the North Shore, there is parking on the side of Farrington Highway for the public access road.
That being said, the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources has installed a chain across the 4WD road at Peacock Flats, which can block the final 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of the road for seemingly no reason. This status may or may not change with time.
Google Maps Directions: Mokulēʻia Access Road / Mokulēʻia Trailhead
Hiking the Mokulēʻia Trail
Beginning from the Mokulēʻia Trailhead, located 0.5 miles (0.8 km) past Peacock Flats, the Mokulēʻia Trail begins on a graded trail just outside of one of the conservation management units in the Pahole area.
On a different note, don’t forget to pack a headlamp for the long hike if you choose to begin from the North Shore.
Within the first 0.1 miles (0.2 km) of the hike, the Mokulēʻia Trail will pass through this ungulate-exclusion fence.
That being said, please be sure to close the gate after passing through.
On a side note for the ongoing restoration work up here, please do your part to minimize your impact on the trail. Native reforestation efforts are always underway to in this area to cut back on the overwhelming amount of invasive species, which can be found throughout the entire trail.
Mokulēʻia Shelter
After roughly 0.8 miles (1.3 km), the Mokulēʻia Trail reaches the Mokulēʻia Shelter, which is also the junction for the Waiʻanae Summit and the Mokulēʻia Bench.
That being said, the Mokulēʻia Shelter and nearby viewpoint is usually as far as most people hike on the Mokulēʻia Trail.
This 'unofficial' terminus for many is the trail that leads up to a beautiful viewpoint of Mākua Valley, located right behind the shelter where you wouldn’t expect to find a trail.
Mokulēʻia Bench-Waiʻanae Summit Trail (WST) Junction
If you’re interested in hiking to this viewpoint at the back of Mākua Valley, follow this section below, or you can see where the Mokulēʻia Trail continues past the shelter just after.
To get there, walk through the weeds and up the little hill.
Waiʻanae Summit Trail (WST)
Once at the fence, go left, which follows a small portion of the Waiʻanae Summit Trail (WST).
From here, it’s simply a short walk up the steep hill along the fence until you arrive at the Mokulēʻia Bench.
Read My Separate Post: Waiʻanae Summit Trail (WST)
Mokulēʻia Bench
Generally speaking, the view from the Mokulēʻia Bench in the back of Mākua Valley is one of the most beautiful vantage points on Oʻahu!
I would even go as far to say that you’re more likely to see the beautiful view than be in the clouds, like I was on this day, as the Waiʻanae Mountains are typically much drier than the nearby Koʻolaus.
Mokulēʻia Trail (Second 'Half')
At the clearing for the shelter, the Mokulēʻia Trail continues straight ahead, as if you hadn’t walked over to the shelter.
This is the part of the trail that is by far less trafficked compared to the first 0.8 miles (1.3 km) to get here.
On that note, if the trail ever gets a little faint, just keep walking a few more steps, and it will become more defined shortly after.
The lack of foot traffic up here may or may not be evident.
At a few more points along the hike, the Mokulēʻia Trail passes through some more ungulate-exclusion fences, which make for good mental checkpoints when much of the forest can start to look the same.
Eventually, the Mokulēʻia Trail makes a hard transition into a towering Eucalyptus forest for the remainder of the hike.
Toward the end of the hike, the trail gets a little more vague and confusing because it’s not very clear how to get to the actually terminus.
However, as long as you remain on the ridge, the faint trail will lead out to the clearing in one way or another.
Mokulēʻia Terminus
This large erosion scar is the end of the Mokulēʻia Trail, and it’s an overlook above Oʻahu’s North Shore that few ever make it to.
For this reason, both the Mokulēʻia Access Road and Trail make for one of my favorite trail runs on Oʻahu, but in reality, the Mokulēʻia Trail is just one of many different routes one could take from Peacock Flats when you begin to learn how vast the Mokulēʻia Forest Reserve really is.
To learn more about about the topic, I encourage you to check out my separate post below. Additionally, if you’re in need of a good road-to-trail shoe, you can see my preferred shoes linked below, which are truly perfect for an adventure just like this.
Read My Separate Post: Best Trail Runs on Oʻahu
Native Plants on the Mokulēʻia Trail
The Mokulēʻia Trail has a ton of different native Hawaiian plants that you will walk by right along the trail, including Hōʻawa, ʻŌhiʻa lehua, Alani, Kōpiko, Māmaki, Pāpala Kepau, and Ōpuhe, to truly only name a few.
If you are curious about trying the native Hawaiian Māmaki tea, I kindly ask that you don’t harvest Māmaki from our native forests but, instead, buy from one of the local reputable vendors, such as those listed below.
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
