Powerline Trail, Kauai, Hawaii

Another GREAT Kauai hike with an unappealing name. (Like the Swamp Trail.)

… follows a 13 mile electric transmission line maintenance route and ends near the Keahua Forestry Arboretum in the Lihue-Koloa Forest Reserve. This is a dry-weather, all day hike. …

Steep, eroded, slippery at saddle. …

Hawaii Trails

If you have only one vehicle, do as I did, starting at the south end (Arboretum). Hike to your turnaround time. Then backtrack. (Most of the hiking guidebooks recommend the out and back itinerary, in any case.)

That’s my rent-a-car parked on the DRY side of the river. In Hawaii you don’t want to drive a rental on to a beach or hunting road. Or across any river.

The start of the Powerline Trail is not all that inspiring:

But very soon you — like every hiker before you — will be scanning the interior mountains hoping for a clear glimpse of the highest peaks.

That’s perhaps the most consistently rainy spot on Earth. In 3wks it did not clear once for me. The summit of Mt. WaiÊ»aleÊ»ale gets 460in (11.7m or 12.87yds) of liquid each year.

(Rare clear photo on Waialeale.org.)

Even though you are hiking on a rough “road”, the pristine jungle scenery ensures that every hiker leaves happy. I loved it.

On the drive back to the coast, stop at gorgeous Opaekaa Falls:

There’s actually a scramble to the base of the Falls. I’d had enough already, and simply enjoyed the view from above.

See all my photos from an afternoon trail run on the Powerline Trail.