Aiea Loop Trail

My boyfriend and I hiked the Keaiwa Heiau loop trail, or as it is more commonly known as the  Aiea Loop Trail. This is a 4.8 mile loop with very little elevation change.  There are some minor hills and rock piles and gets very narrow in a small section but overall a very easy but long hike.

First off there are three main parking areas at the Keaiwa Heiau State Park.    We parked at the second one and then walked by the road to the trail head.  This doesn't really matter because the way that the trail loops even if you park by the trail head, you will still walk up the hill in the end.  The hike started out pretty dry but we had a hint of what was coming from another hiker covered in mud.

Expect to get muddy, wear good shoes - no flip flops.   I have been on couple of hikes here in Hawaii and always see people trying to hike in flip flops.  Stop! Its a great way to break your ankle. I have a tendency to roll my ankles, so I have two types of hiking shoes - a pair of running shoes with good traction and then ankle high hiking boots. My boyfriend is modeling hiking sandals - good for people with strong ankles.  The straps on the toes keep your feet from moving around unlike flip flops.

 The trail goes through multiple lemon eucalyptus stands and gives the air a nice citrusy scent. There are also conifer trees on the side of the trail.    A couple of times, I smelled a fragrant flower in the air but could never locate the bloom. 

 Boyfriend in front of a grove of Lemon Eucalyptus.  I initially thought they might have been rainbow eucalyptus.

Dogs are allowed on this hike if on leash and well behaved.  This little guy above is named Jack and he is an avid sniffer.  Other hikers have seen boar on this trail so be aware.  There are also two boar hunting days a week on Oahu.  Which I believe are Wednesdays and Sundays.  The boars aren't what I worry about much, but the boar hunting dogs on the other hand, keeps Jack home on those days. 

This was one of the tricky parts of the hike, it was very muddy on our hike and made getting up this rock pile tricky.  Expect to straddle a couple of fallen trees that are blocking the path and maybe even duck under a few more.  The hike was worth the breathtaking views of the H3 - the most expensive road to build per mile in the US.  Get pockets of views of Aiea and Pearl City as the canopy breaks for views of the land and ocean.

It took us two hours to finish this hike.  We saw only a couple of hikers which is nice when you can feel that you are in the wild alone