Old Pali Road
I hiked down the Old Pali Road today with Chris, Tommy, Lillian, and Jayson. Taking our cue from an article that I found on it, we started from the Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout, which almost every tourist to Hawai‘i visits.
Standing at the Lookout, to the right you’ll see the old road stretching off around the curve of the mountain. This is the Windward section of the Old Pali Road, which was replaced in 1959 by the Pali Highway.
Even though I’ve been to the Pali Lookout dozens of times, and traveled the Pali Highway hundreds of times more, I’ve never taken the time to walk down that old road. Today, I was curious enough to do it. The road starts out in pretty good shape, considering that it hasn’t been driven on for almost fifty years. But soon enough we found signs that this wasn’t an official road any longer. For one thing, there were rocks on the roadway. Big ones.
Unlike more modern roads, the Old Pali Road was built hugging the side of the slope but typically not actually cut into it. In places it’s supported by huge concrete columns.
In fifty years, the elements have taken their toll on the road. Plants have started to crowd the old asphalt and concrete, narrowing the path considerably. The road was often narrow enough already. I had the shivers just looking at it and contemplating what it must have been like, back in the early 1900s, going up what was sometimes just a narrow one-lane road, with a cliff to your left and a hundred-foot drop to your right. Boy, I’m glad I never had to make that drive.
In several places along the way, we saw clusters of holes in the rocks, each about as big around as your thumb. I think they were the remnants of blasting holes drilled during the road construction back in the 1890s. You drilled long deep holes into the rock, packed sticks of dynamite into them, and blasted the rock away. What we see today are the ends of the holes, left over after blasting.
In some spots, the road crossed steep gullies with trickling streams down their middles. This one actually had a couple of small pools of water on the up-slope side, which Chris and Tommy checked out. Note the vertical streak of exposed black rock in the background — on rainy days, it probably turns into a raging waterfall. That would be gorgeous to see, but I’m not sure I’d want to be out on the trail on a day like that.
Looking over the outside rail of the road at that same spot, I could see the little stream beneath flowing down into the gully. The perspective was a little spooky, as I was looking straight down at least fifty or sixty feet.
By now, we had descended quite a distance. The Windward entrances to the Pali Tunnels were in view below us.
In a few more minutes, we had descended even farther and found ourselves at the same level as the Pali Highway. Cars were zooming past, their drivers probably not even noticing our presence. The Old Pali Road had run smack into the new Pali Highway. But I had read that there was a way underneath the highway, and after a few minutes of poking around we managed to find it. Some generous souls had even built a set of wooden steps to make the climb down a little easier.
We scrambled under the highway, the roar of the cars above us. It was a little disconcerting, but sort of fun.
After crossing under the Pali Highway, the Old Pali Road reasserted itself a couple dozen yards later, wider and cleaner than it had been further upslope. The lower elevation meant slightly lower rainfall, which slowed the plants down and kept them from engulfing the road as they had done up in the heights.
Shortly thereafter, we came to a junction where the Old Pali Road met up with another defunct roadway. Our directions said to take the left.
In retrospect, re-reading my hike books, I realize that what we were trying to do was to go to the waterfall in the first section of the Likeke Trail. We were looking for some “stone steps” turning off to the left of the road. But that turnoff to Likeke wasn’t easy to find! We kept on going down the road, peering into the bushes and looking for those elusive steps.
Looking up and back at the way we had come, we could see the Pali Lookout far above us. Did we really descend that far? That meant that to get to the car, we’d have to climb all the way back up there, too. Gulp!
Some of the masonry was quite old. Around Honolulu, I’m used to seeing the occasional WPA-era bridge, dated 1937 or so, but I thought that a 1919 date was pretty unusual. I wonder who E.J.L. was?
Shortly we came to a clear, level area where we took a break. Chris, eager to keep on going, continued down the trail only to find that it was blocked by a chain link fence, with what looked like occupied maintenance buildings on the other side. Hey, where was that waterfall? Obviously we had gone the wrong way.
But then, we met another group of hikers coming up the trail from the other way. We asked them where they had started from, and they told us that they had just started — in fact, we were only a few steps away from the trailhead. Whaaat? Sure enough, we followed their directions and found that we were actually only a couple dozen yards away from the trailhead they had started from: the Ko‘olau Country Club’s parking lot. What a surprise! We had thought that we were in an abandoned area a long ways away from “civilization”, but it just wasn’t so.
It made me think of how on the TV show Lost, which is filmed mostly on O‘ahu, the camera makes it look like they’re on a deserted island… but if you were to pan over just ten feet to the left, you’d probably see that they were filming next to the Ka‘a‘awa 7-Eleven or something.
We decided to call it a day; the waterfall could wait till next time. Still, on our return route, we kept on looking for those stone steps, and eventually Jayson found them.
The steps were right there at the junction, immediately next to a low stone wall and a steel post. They weren’t obvious at all unless you took a few steps into the bushes to look.
Just to make certain that we’d find them again, I tied some marker tape to the steel post. Maybe the tape will still be there next time.
After that, it was a short walk back up to the top of the cliffs to the Lookout. Another fun hike!
April 26th, 2005 at 1:47 am
Thanks for leaving a marker, I’ll look for it when I try the hike. I’m thinking about going with friends in 2 cars. We’ll park one car at the top and walk to the car at the bottom. Can you as a favour write to me and tell me how to get to the Ko‘olau Country Club’s parking lot. Many thanks.
April 26th, 2005 at 5:55 am
Here’s a map to the Ko‘olau Golf Club. Have a good hike!
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Super cool pictures…I drive over the Pali everyday and it was neat to see what goes on below. Hopefully I can do the hike soon!
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:13 pm
It’s an easy hike — more of a walk, really. But it is very cool to see the old road and imagine what it was like to drive it.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
did you ever go back and go to the Likeke Fall? We are going in Nov. and want to see the falls. If you did see the falls, is the hike from The abandoned Auola rd. to the falls difficult?
Is it straight forward?
August 17th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Not yet, so I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you. If I do, I’ll post another blog entry about it. Good luck on your trip!
December 14th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Cool narration of your trip. You’re a good writer.
December 16th, 2006 at 12:44 am
Thanks Kevin!
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Hey I just stumbled upon this site .. well was looking for this tunnel (not Wilson Tunnel) that I heard when you exit out (windward) that you drive an immediate dip. Not sure how to explain it better. Was wondering if you know what i’m talking about.
Thanks!
February 5th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Aloha,
I was stationed in Pearl Harbor with the Navy from 1951-1955 during the Korean War. It was a great place to be stationed and I spent most of my off duty time at the beach at Waikiki. My car was a 1946 Buick Convertible, big, long and fun. I drove over the Old Pali Road often and it was exciting to say the least. It was tricky when you met another big car on that narrow road but the view was special and when I wanted to go to that side I very seldom drove around the long way.
Your pictures with the comments are great and I certainly enjoyed seeing the pictures of how it looks now. I’ve wondered about how it would look after more than fifty years and now I know thanks to you folks.
Take care, best wishes,
Norm
March 30th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Howzit. I can’t thank you enough for these photos! I’m makule enough to remember my dad driving us over the old Pali Road almost every weekend. I have been searching the Internet for photos like these for years! Mahalo nui loa for making it possible to see the road we used to travel. Without pork, of course.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:23 am
Aloha! Very nice pictoral – We visited this from the Pali Lookout last week, usually I start at the Golf course and sneak through the fence. This was a nice change of perspective. Lots of BEES at the lookout!
Mahalo for sharing!
Simon
November 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I was stationed there in 1978 (Kaneohe Bay). A local friend took us to the old highway. If you climb up by the stream running down the side of the mountain (it is quite vertical) – nestled up there in the rocks is the wreckage of a japanese plane. In ’78 there was not much left – fusilage and wings. But was very cool to see a piece of history.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Great pictures and narrative. I really appreciate the info. I am planning to hike the old pali road soon. I thought you could get on it at the old auloa road (near kamehameha), no?
February 26th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I was a kid when I lived in Kailua and my dad worked in Honolulu. I used to ride with him to work on days when I had no school. We had a big old 1957 Chevy and I remember just how narrow the old Pali Road really was. On the passenger side of the car I would swear that the door handle was about to hit the side of the cliff on the way back to Kailua. A scary but very fun ride. In bad weather the speed was about 5 mph as the road was also extremly slippery. My family and I are going for a visit in July of 2008 and I look forward to walking the old road.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Mahalo for the lovely pictures. We moved to the Mainland seven years ago–these are nice reminders of one of my favorite places on Oahu.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
By the way, those patterns of round holes in the rock were more likely core samples taken for geomagnetic studies. Might be worth asking the folks at SOEST if they know anything about it.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Khalil — core samples, huh? Interesting! I wouldn’t have guessed that. Thanks!
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for publishing the photos and narrative. I lived in Oahu when I was a kid and was always captivated by the “Old Pali Highway” which we could see from the new road. But I never got to set foot on it… maybe one day!
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Hi. We just stumbled upon your websight while my son was doing research for a class project. His assignment is to tell a story of a true family mystery. Our story occurred on the Old Pali. Looking at your pictures was so fun to remember our “mystereous” day. We visited Oahu from Arizona in 2007. We were walking along the old Pali road down from the lookout with some friends from Kaneohe. My 14 year old son is in a power wheelchair so we could only go so far until the road was too rocky and uneven to continue with his chair. We stopped at this point to enjoy the beauty and our friends were telling us of the history and legends that surround the area. They told us the story of the warriors leaping from cliffs rather than submit to capture and the rumors that they still haunt and protect the area. At that exact moment, my son’s chair suddenly died.The electrics just stopped working. We checked the contacts, all fine, and the battery was still well charged. Just NO GO! He was totally stuck! So, we disengaged his wheels and took turns pushing his 300 lb power chair back up the hill. My son found this all DELIGHTFULLY fun. We, on the other hand… were winded and a bit cranky.. We stopped to rest and an older lady passing by suggested that maybe we had some pork on board and that would bring us bad luck here. She said to find it and throw it away. We realized that we had just eaten bacon for breakfast! OOPS! We had a good laugh and figured we deserved what we got. Guess what, the chair suddenly started working again and we never had another issue for the rest of the trip. It is a fond and fun memory. Thanks for sharing your photos of this beautiful and powerful place. Aloha. Kish
April 8th, 2010 at 11:42 am
This account is so cool!
It’s like the movie “Stand By Me”, only with asian kids!
May 25th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Great narration!
I’m a teacher here on navy reserve duty for another week and I’d love to see the Japanese plane Capt. Billy McGraw mentioned on November 24th, 2007. The directions were a little vague and I only have a few hours a day to search.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Nice shots of the old Pali road. Travelled it as a child and remember well the trip to Bellows Field from Pearl Harbor. Always had to stop and check the view. Hope to return some day and see it again.
Thanks again for submitting these jpegs.
Steve
April 10th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
I stumbled upon this blog while looking for something interesting to do today. We parked at the golf course and walked up. I was really excited about finding this old plane wreck. I tried a couple of places closer to the top that I thought may fit the description. The second place I tried was a trail along a stream that seemed really promising. The stream and trail hit the road right at a very sharp bend (over 90 deg) closer to the lookout. I followed the trail to a couple of trickling waterfalls (more like water dripping off of the rocks) and tried to follow what I thought may be a trail up and around the falls. I had a real urge to continue but the path got very difficult, and I had left my girlfriend back on the road. I turned around since I thought she might be worried about me since I hadn’t come back. She was! If anyone has found this wreck please write any details you have about how to find it!! Was I on the right path?? I know it’s been over 30 years since Capt. McGraw visited it but I’m sure some remnants are still there.
April 10th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Actually after scanning through this again I realized the stream trail I followed was photographed from the road in the picture right above the caption starting with “Looking over the outside rail of the road at that same spot…”
April 18th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Just did this trail this weekend. It’s quickest to get to the waterfall from the golf course. Here’s a link with directions from the golf course http://www.outdoorohana.com/?p=109
The switchbacks immediately after the stone steps are steep, my 3yo got down, but getting up was tricky.
August 15th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
[...] a pole without a sign attached – it should be on the left just before the road curves left. Almost Paradise was smart enough to snap a photo of the slab and pole. The shady wooden stairs that you will need [...]
September 5th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Mahalo for your post; it was very helpful!
November 15th, 2011 at 1:01 am
[...] You can start at the top or bottom. We started at the Pali Lookout (the top) More information: http://www.hawaiistories.com/eric/2005/04/24/old-pali-road/ [...]
January 15th, 2012 at 10:56 am
The first time I drove our “woody” filled with St. Louis and Sacred Hearts kids over the Old Pali Road, I got stuck on the steepest “hairpin turn.” The cars lined up in back of me and one man came over to try and help. He told kids to get out of my station wagon and stand up next to the rock, out of traffic, and told cars behind me to gradually try to ease back from my back bumper. The lighter car, with me at the wheel, was able to just slip off the narrow “curb,” kids got back in and I was so grateful to the man who helped. I drove that road to Kaimuki my Junior and Senior years at SHA, taking riders, but that never happened again. Thank goodness!