Wear bright colored clothing as the trail passes through areas for year-round archery hunting for game mammals and seasonal shooting of game birds. Occasionally, the area may close due to aerial control of invasive mammals. Further information may be obtained by contacting the Division of Forestry and Wildlife at (808) 974-4221.

Do not use any trail or access road that is not delineated by name and color and that may also be displayed on these maps. The marked features are managed for public recreational use. Other trails or roads that branch off from the public features may be on private property, and are not managed for any public recreational use. Access is subject to adjacent landowner approval, and if used without authorization, you will be trespassing and possibly putting yourself at risk.

This trail is accessed via the 4-mile dirt road, Puʻu Lāʻau (R-1) Road, off the Old Saddle Road. Puʻu Lāʻau Road should only be accessed by a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. You can also park at the Kilohana check-in station and hike up from there. The trail will be located on your left, next to a large water tank and below the green painted cabins on Puʻu Lāʻau Road.

Māmane (Sophora chrysophylla) is only found in Hawai‘i and is the dominant tree of the high-elevation dry forest of Mauna Kea. It can grow from a large shrub to a tree, with some reaching over 40 feet in height. Though once common in Hawai‘i’s dry areas, māmane now grow primarily in the high-elevation forest between 5,800 to 10,000 feet.

The māmane’s bright yellow flowers eventually turn into seed pods. Palila depend on these nutritious seeds for food, and are immune to the toxic alkaloids within all the seeds. Immature, green māmane seeds make up most of the palila’s diet, although they also eat flowers and leaf buds. Native Cydia caterpillars found in the seed pods are protein-rich and an important food for growing chicks.

Palila are endemic, occurring only in Hawai‘i and nowhere else in the world. They are a classic example of the spectacular evolutionary process that occurred in the remoteness of the Hawaiian Islands where they survived in the dry forests for well over 100,000 years by adapting to a food source, māmane (Sophora chrysophylla) pods.

Māmane trees provides over 90% of the food in the diet of palila, making them a specialist and highly dependent on māmane trees for their survival. Similar to the soybean pods that we eat, māmane trees produce pods with highly nutritious seeds for palila to eat. Interestingly enough, these seeds are poisonous to other wildlife. Their dependence upon māmane makes them an indicator species of the high-elevation dry forest, helping us monitor the health of the forest that they depend on.

The decline of the palila population highlights that the forest is not healthy. The last remaining individuals are confined to a small portion of Mauna Kea. DLNR and their partners (The American Bird Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Arbor Day Foundation, and hundreds of volunteers) are collaborating to restore māmane forests on Mauna Kea.Palila belong here and are one of the things that makes Hawai‘i one of the most amazing places on the planet.

• Archery
• Dog Hunting
• Dog on Leash
• Hiking
• Hunting
• Sightseeing
• Tours
• Wildlife View

• Bees
• Dangerous Footing
• Fire Danger
• High Elevation
• Sun Exposure
• Uneven Surface

1. Stay on the trail
2. Check the weather
3. Watch the time
4. Avoid undue risk
5. Read all posted signs
6. Respect other trail users
7. Pack out at least what you pack in

• No Alcohol
• No Motorized Vehicles
• No Bicycles
• No Camping
• No Horse
• No Littering
• No Open Fires
• No Plant Sand Dirt Rock Removal
• No Smoking

• Interpretive Signs

• Nature Study
• Open Views
• Scenic Viewpoint
• Sensitive Area