Manuka State Wayside, Naalehu

Great little 2 mile trail. Lots of bird life. Big Lava Tube Cave. Difficult to go down. Bring Shoes.

I don’t want to offend anyone, but we did the two mile hike yesterday. I wanted to love it. But it was terrible. There was nothing to really see because it was pretty much overgrown forest and you couldn’t really look around while walking because the path was very large lava rocks so you were twisting your ankles the entire way. The elevation change was gradual enough that an overweight 40 year old could do it with just a stop or two to catch breath. The crater was hard to admire because it was very over grown. Most of the original native plantings that are marked have died or been cut down. But seriously...the lava rocks on the path are insane. Fair warning, the last half of the hike, the decent, is actually worse than the first half because there are more rocks. If only they were smaller diameter it would be so much better.