Now your ready to hit the trail with your plan in hand! Here's some things to remember while you're hiking:
- Read and follow official or directional signage: They may be posted along the trail to ensure you are not walking onto sacred sites, areas of ecological restoration and into potential hazards.
- Stay on the path, don't go off trail! Going off trail tramples vegetation, disturbs animals, causes erosion, and endangers hikers after you who might think it’s the right way.
- Avoid Undue Risks: Climbing waterfalls and following narrow ridgelines or gulches off the trail can place you in danger.
- Turn off radios with loud music: Be considerate of others on the trail; enjoy the natural sounds of the forest.
- Follow Multiple-Use Trail Guidelines: Hikers should let those on horseback pass while bikers should yield to both hikers and horseback riders.
- Stay aware of your location & surroundings: Hawaiʻi's forests are not like others—the growth is dense, and it is easy to become disoriented. Thick overgrowth can mask dangerously steep drop-offs.
- Monitor the weather: Hawaiʻi's tropical weather can be unpredictable and varied. Temperature fluctuations are mild, yet rainfall can be brief, consistent, or sporadic, depending on where you're hiking.
- Stay Together: Keep track those in your group and regroup periodically, especially near junctions or when the trail gets obscure.
- Know your limits: Don't ignore signs your body needs a break. Dehydration, sunstroke, hypothermia, and fatigue can hit even experienced hikers.
Always remember when you are hiking on trails in Hawai‘i, you are a guest in the home of our forest creatures and ancestors of Native Hawaiians. Please treat these areas with respect.
Mahalo!
