KAILUA-KONA — Head up Kaloko Drive on the west slope of Hualalai, and it doesn’t take long before you’re in tree ferns and silent ohia forests.
Off of Hao Street, there’s a pull-off where — for many decades — people and their dogs have set out to follow the meandering trail as it links up to miles of hiking paths in the Makaula-Ooma section of the Honuaula Forest Reserve.
Trouble is, they’ve actually trespassed on two different privately owned parcels to do it.
Now, the 21-acre lot that includes the trailhead is up for sale, and a West Hawaii councilwoman and a trail advocacy group are trying to preserve the access and make it legitimate, either through a land purchase or an easement.
“More and more people are using the trail,” said North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff. “I think a more formalized county control of the trail would have more protection for the neighborhood, because right now, no one is watching over it.”
Peoples Advocacy For Trails Hawaii has nominated the land for purchase by the county Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund. The owner is interested in selling to the county, but it’s not yet clear if the county will be able to move quickly enough to purchase the land. Other details must also be worked out, including an easement through another parcel that would be needed to make the trail contiguous.
County control of the trail would open up maintenance funds for signage, trail work and other improvements, Eoff said.
PATH’s nomination of the land for purchase will be taken up at the Monday meeting of the county Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission in Hilo. PATH, with a mailing list of 3,500 and 150 paying members, already has a memorandum of agreement with the state Department of Forestry and Wildlife to maintain and manage trails inside of the forest reserve.
“People have been using the Hao Street entrance to get to the boundary of the reserve,” said PATH’s executive director Tina Clothier.
Count Kailua-Kona resident Nate Jarvis and his German shepherd Mackenzie among those who prefer the more level course of the Hao Street trailhead to much steeper entrances to the reserve one street above.
“I bring my 1-year-old and he can walk on this trail,” Jarvis said, as he was preparing to set out on a hike this week. “Up above, I have to pack him because it’s too steep and rocky.”
Jarvis hikes the trail four times a week for the peace of the upland rainforest and to be out of the heat of the lower elevations.
“There’s always people up here,” he said.
The trailhead land was placed on the market in July and is priced at $579,000. Maverick Malech, real estate agent with Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers, said the land has received interest both from the county and other private parties. Malech said he is doing everything he can to get a buyer for the land, and said he hopes the county is able to expedite its processes if it is interested.
“The seller has shown interest in selling to the county, and would like the property to be part of the county’s portfolio,” Malech said. “At the same time, they would like the property to be sold.”
The land is zoned agriculture with a minimum lot size of 10 acres, and a significant portion has already been dedicated as a forest reserve.
“Its a big opportunity,” Eoff said. “But the glitches haven’t been worked out yet.”