Hiking the Pali Puka Trail on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
Distance: 0.7 miles / 1.1 km
Elevation Gain: ~500 ft. / 152 m
The Pali Puka Trail is a short but steep and challenging hike that can similarly be compared to the neighboring Pali Notches Trail.
I do not recommend the Pali Puka hike to all people because of the high level of exposure and danger that the trail poses. It’s considerably more dangerous than the Pali Notches hike up to the first notch.
Pali Puka Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Pali Puka Trail is located in the same parking lot as the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout.
However, for those trying to visit the trail at sunrise and sunset specifically, parking is not recommended in the normal parking lot shown below, as fines have been known to be handed out to cars parking outside of the normal park hours.
Therefore, if you plan on visiting outside of the posted hours, which also includes being on the hike past the posted hours in the evening, be sure to park elsewhere off the Pali Highway to avoid getting fined.
Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout Parking Fee
Hawaiʻi Residents/ Military - This is your home, and you are free to park and enjoy the lookout by simply showing your Hawaiʻi State or Military ID to the attendant working when you park.
Visitors/ Non-Hawaiʻi Residents - All non-residents wishing to park at the lookout are required to pay the small fee at the kiosk in the parking lot.
Google Maps Directions: Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout
Hiking the Pali Puka Trail
By hiking this trail, you accept all the risks and potential legal consequences for entering a closed area.
The Pali Puka Trailhead is located on the opposite side of the lookout from the popular lookout viewpoint.
It’s not obvious, but there will be a small opening in the forest for the unmarked trailhead.
Immediately after passing the trailhead, the hike starts climbing up a steep hill to the ridgeline.
Once on the ridgeline, you need to be sure of every step, especially after it has been raining lately.
A fall over the Pali would certainly be fatal, and hikers have died on this trail before.
Take your time, and be careful.
If you find the narrow ridgeline trail in the photo below on the left, look for the trail down in the trees. It’s significantly safer than walking on the narrow ridge here.
Right before the Puka, you have the option of either climbing up to the ridge and down to the Puka, or you can scoot along the side of the ridgeline to reach the same viewpoint.
I personally think going up and then down is either than scooting across.
The photo below on the right makes the part to climb down look worse than it is.
Pali Puka
After just 0.35 miles (0.6 km), the Pali Puka Trail ends at the Puka that can be seen from areas across Kāneʻohe, Kailua, and a number of the trails on Tantalus.
Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST)
The Pali Puka Trail is a part of the much longer KST, but if you only prepared to hike the Puka, don’t proceed past the area in the photos above.
The KST gets considerably more difficult as the summit trail climbs up to Puʻu Lanihuli.
Read My Separate Post: Koʻolau Summit Trail (KST)
Native Plants on the Pali Puka Trail
The Pali Puka Trail has a number of native plants to find, including ʻŌhiʻa lehua, ʻĀkia, ʻAlaʻala wai nui, and Hau, to truly only 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
