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In late October of 2025, I traveled from Southern California to Kauai for what would be the completion of a retirement goal my late wife and I made twelve years ago: ride our bikes in all fifty states. Although my bride of forty-five years was only with me in spirit, my son and daughter-in-law joined me for this momentous ride on the Hall of Fame trail.
In my mind, this trail can essentially be divided into two parts. From the approximate midpoint in Kapa'a at Kou Street you can head north for beautiful unobstructed views of the coastline, ocean, and countryside. If you're into hotels, condos, houses, cars and busy streets, then head south for a less than primo experience.
Having said that, we started around the midpoint in Kapa'a at Holoholo Bike Rentals on Kou Street where there is public parking and headed north. The northern portion is everything you could hope for in a Hawaiian coastal bike path. The trail is smoothly paved and perfectly maintained with an oh so gentle incline (which my 7-speed rental stuck in 7th gear had no problem negotiating). For me, this ride was all about the awesome ocean views and photo ops, so we took it slow and took a ton of photos. This isn't a trail for racers looking to burn calories; this is a path designed with a beach cruiser mentality, so take it slow and imprint the experience and images into your hippocampus.
Despite the warm eighty degree temps, the steady ocean breeze and intermittent rain showers kept us comfortably cool as we slowly pedaled our way up the gentle incline.
One highlight and pleasant surprise for us was something which isn't noted in any reviews, photos, or the TrailLink trail description. Near the northern end is an unmarked, short, paved spur that takes you uphill through a tunnel of trees for about a hundred yards or so to a parking lot with a restroom. If you're on a one speed beach cruiser, you'll probably have to walk it up the incline, but the experience of being totally enveloped by the tangle of low hanging tree branches is amazing, and of course it's a blast coasting back down to Ke Ala Hele Makalae!
The southern portion of the trail from the midpoint has its moments with decent ocean and beach views, but it's just not the same as the north where you're consistently hugging the rugged coastline and surrounded by natural vegetation. If you don't mind lots of buildings, sharing the road with cars, some dirt/sand paths in need of signs to direct which way to go, or riding alongside busy Kuhio Highway and avoiding vehicles turning into driveways, then go for it!
(I truly wanted to ride the entire trail from end to end, but because of some of that weirdness mentioned above, my riding companions grew a bit perturbed, so we only got as far as Papaloa Road before turning back north to the bike rental.)
All in all, the northern half on its own is Hall of Fame worthy, and the Ke Ala Hele Makalae was a perfect ending for my fiftieth state bike ride!
Great trail to bike or walk. From northern section saw monk seals, whales and Kauai’s famous chickens. Stop and enjoy food trucks, shops or a cold micro brew at Napoli Brewery. Spectacular ocean and beach views. Southern section thru Lydgate park with protected pools to snorkel and 2+ mile swimable sandy beach shore.
Great trail for cycling or walking. It’s off Kam hi way and has a nice open country feel. From Kuhuku I continued on down the road shoulder to Turtle Bay.
My wife and I rented bikes downtown and rode the entire length of the path, making stops along the way. It was a perfect morning on the island, which we enjoyed as part of our cruise.
One of the highlights of our trip! I started at Kauai Shores Hotel and went to the end of the path at Paliku Beach (Donkey Beach). I was afraid the disconnected part of the path from Sheraton Coconut Beach Resort to Fujii Beach would be difficult to navigate and have us riding on Kuhio Highway but luckily that's not the case. Bike paths have been added that don't show up on Google Maps. Look at the photo gallery to see a detail from a map from Kauai Bike Explorer to see how to navigate the disconnected part of the path. When I rode the trail in August 2023 it went a little past the Paliku Beach Access Tree Tunnel. It took about two hours round trip from Kauai Shores Hotel. It was pretty much flat the whole way and an easy, leisurely ride. It's a beautiful, unique trail and I can't wait to see it expand.
This is my favorite Oahu hike. The ocean and tide pools are amazing and your walking right along the mountainside. We hiked from Ka’ena State Park and went all the way out to the western-most point of Oahu. Free, ample parking is available in the park at the end of the road. Lock you car. Closed toe shoes are a must as the trail is rocky. Bring plenty of water as it is a hot, dry hike. The trail is 99% flat with one up-and-around that is a bit challenging (see photo).
I’m seeing a lot of reviews about the houseless community on the trails. To the folks leaving those reviews, are you doing anything to help?
I enjoy riding this trail w the 9 year old that I mentor. Beautiful views of the harbor, cool neighborhoods, old farms, houseless communities… golf courses (the irony). I’ve never once felt anymore unsafe then anywhere else in Pearl City.
Highly recommend for a unpolished representation of this beautiful place that we get to live.
A nice safe route (even in the dark) to get to Haleiwa town center. The bike trail ends at the traffic circle before you get to Haleiwa but there is sufficient pavement on the left hand side to allow you to cycle safely from that point into Haleiwa. Best to take it easy, as we encountered quad bikes, motocross bikes, cyclists, joggers and pedestrians along the trail.
We walked from North Shore trailhead to Kaena Point. Easy walking but recommend closed toe shoes and plenty of water. We were lucky enough to see the Laysan Albatross performing their mating dance and soaring through the skies. At the Point we saw three Hawaiian Monk seals and another had just landed at 10-minute beach. With mountains on one side and big surf on the other it was a breathtaking walk, we’ll worth the effort.
Lovely coastal ride on a rental one speed from Hele on Kauai. Level well maintained surface with plenty of spectacular lookouts along the way. We did only the ~5 mile northern section since the trail is not continuous. We saw southern section at Lydgate park which would not be particularly interesting as an isolated ride.
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