If you are driving, there are two ways to reach this trail:
1. From Farrington Highway, after passing Camp Mokuleia, turn left into the third entrance to Dillingham Airfield. Parking is available at airfield. Continue by foot toward the mountain, crossing the access road you just came in on, and enter the gravel road. Go through the cable gate and continue left down the road. When the road forks, stay right. The road will end at a fence lined with WWII bunkers. Proceed through the gate at the fence. The trail begins here.
2. By four wheel drive and DLNR permit (See Permit Requirments): Drive towards Ka‘ena Point on Farrington Highway until you reach The Kaena State Park section of the Mauka Kaena State Park or Keawaula. Turn right and check in with your permit at the security guard station for the Ka‘ena Point Tracking Station. Continue up the road until you get to the intersection with the second guard shack on the left. Turn right at the stop sign and proceed past the Tracking Station. Once past the station, the road curves to the left and you will pass another intersection on the right. Adjacent to the next intersection is a large dirt parking area. Take the road on the right, heading downhill. Follow the arrow signs along the road, and turn left at an intersection marked Kealia Trail, with an arrow. Continue down this road to the Kealia Trailhead and park in the open area before the shelter.
From the control tower parking lot walk back across the access road. Jog right and then left around a chain onto a partially paved road heading mauka (inland). The wide road narrows to a gravel track. Ignore side roads branching left and right. Go through an opening in a low green fence by a yellow warning sign and immediately bear left on the Kealia Trail. Ascend the pali (cliff) gradually on nineteen switchbacks to a covered picnic table. Climb gradually up the wide ridge on a dirt road to a junction by an old fence line. Bear right on the main road through two weathered wooden gateposts. After passing a rusted water tank on the left, enter Kuaokala Public Hunting Area marked by a sign. As the road curves around a hump in the ridge, reach a second junction. Continue left and up on the main road. The road climbs, dips briefly and then ends at a signed T junction. Turn left on Kuaokala Access Rd. toward Makua Valley. After passing a water catchment tank for wildlife, reach another signed junction. Bear slightly right and up on the Kuaokala Trail, which is the less-traveled dirt road. The road ends at a fence along the rim of Mākua Valley. Go through a gate in the fence to reach the valley overlook.
