Parking
Use the Kīpukapuaulu parking area 1.5 miles up Mauna Loa Road. Pit toilets are at the nearby picnic area.
Overview
About Kīpukapuaulu Trail
Why go
- A rich native forest with numbered stops that explain what you are seeing
- An ancient lava-tube skylight adds a geological surprise to an easy walk
Heads up
- Birds are often heard more reliably than seen
- Uneven, sometimes rocky footing can be awkward for cane users
Kīpukapuaulu is an easy 1.2-mile loop through a native forest island surrounded by younger lava. It is a shaded nature walk whose payoff is seeing how much plant and animal life fits into this older patch of forest. Allow one to one and a half hours if you stop at the numbered interpretive posts.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the forest walk for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes map
Full mapElevation3,953–4,150 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
5 active Hawaiʻi Volcanoes alerts
- ClosureStorm-damage closures at Kahuku, Kīpukapuaulu, and Sulphur BanksMentions this trailStorm damage and hazardous trees continue to restrict access at Kahuku and Kīpukapuaulu; the damaged Sulphur Banks Bridge is closed.Official details
- ClosureWork closures on Hilina Pali and Mauna Loa roadsMentions Mauna Loa, referenced in this guideRoad work is restricting motorized and all-use access on portions of Hilina Pali Road and Mauna Loa Road.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Tour Guide
Your drive to Kīpukapuaulu Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Kīpukapuaulu: Forest, Birdsong and a Picnic0:00 / 0:28
“Kīpukapuaulu is coming up, a pocket of older native forest surrounded by younger lava.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Tree That Almost Vanished
- Nāmakanipaio: A Cool Night Among the Trees
- Tree Molds: Where the Trunks Were
- Kīlauea Overlook: A View or a Rim Walk
- 58 audio storiesacross Hawaiʻi Volcanoes’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Hawaiian Goose (Nēnē), Green Sea Turtle, Hawaiian Hawk ('Io), and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 33 trails, 53 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Kīpukapuaulu Trail
Follow the numbered stopsStart and finish at the Kīpukapuaulu parking area off Mauna Loa Road.
Start and finish at the Kīpukapuaulu parking area off Mauna Loa Road. At the fork, take the left branch for the clockwise loop. The dirt path is fairly level, with a few short rises and dips, though some footing is uneven and rocky. The numbered stops are much easier to appreciate if you bring the trail guide. Pit toilets are at the nearby picnic area, not at the trailhead. Dogs, horses, and bicycles are not allowed.
A forest island in a sea of lavaA kīpuka is older land left surrounded by younger lava.
A kīpuka is older land left surrounded by younger lava. The forest here grows on lava at least 8,600 years old, while the surrounding flow is about 600 years old. Layers of volcanic ash built deep, moisture-holding soil; the trail guide describes more native tree species per acre here than in any other forest in the park.
A long recoveryCattle and feral goats once damaged this forest.
Cattle and feral goats once damaged this forest. Cattle were removed in 1928, and goats and pigs were fenced out in 1968. Civilian Conservation Corps workers built the trail in 1934. Later, volunteers pulled invasive nasturtium by hand, giving dormant koa seeds room to sprout. You can see the recovery in the young koa and in the mix of native ferns and herbs along the path.
Look low for lifeWatch the māmaki shrubs for Kamehameha butterflies and the forest floor for Kalij pheasants,…
Watch the māmaki shrubs for Kamehameha butterflies and the forest floor for Kalij pheasants, introduced to Hawaiʻi in 1962. Birdsong is easier to count on than a close sighting; the forest is worth the walk even when the birds stay hidden.
The lava-tube skylightAt stop six, a skylight opens into a lava tube beneath the forest.
At stop six, a skylight opens into a lava tube beneath the forest. The tube is at least 8,600 years old, and the first cave-adapted animal species known in Hawaiʻi was discovered there in 1971. The small-eyed, big-eyed hunting spider is one of the unusual animals associated with these dark tubes. Stay on the path; entering the tube is discouraged because its geology and wildlife are fragile.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
600 sightingsHawaiian Goose (Nēnē)Most seen around 5 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGreen Sea TurtleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
36 sightingsHawaiian Hawk ('Io)Most seen around 11 AMSighting map
41 sightingsBlack NoddyMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
96 sightingsWhite-tailed TropicbirdMost seen around noonSighting map
24 sightingsHawai'i 'ElepaioMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Hawaiʻi Volcanoes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
