A rest stop with an opportunity to picnic among a collection of native and introduced trees. A 2-mile nature hike through the adjacent Manukā Natural Area Reserve offers an experience in Hawaiian natural history.
A rest stop with an opportunity to picnic among a collection of native and introduced trees. A 2-mile nature hike through the adjacent Manukā Natural Area Reserve offers an experience in Hawaiian natural history.
On the flank of leeward Mauna Loa in South Kona, Manukā Natural Area Reserve is a 25,ooo-acre reserve encompassing a wide range of habitats. These include subalpine shrublands and forests, mesic montane kipuka forests, wet montane forests, lowland mesic forests and lowland dry forests.
Recent lava flows add a variety of pioneer vegetation types, as well as uncharacterized and unsurveyed lava tubes. Concentrations of the Hawaiian hoary bat occur in the area. A rare lowland grassland and anchialine pools are included as well.
Natural Communities: 17 total, 3 rare
Native Plants: 187 total taxa, 10 rare
Native Animals: 7 total taxa, 3 rare