Mana Road
Easy gravel road running on the northern slopes of Mauna Kea
Mana Rd is a 41 mile dirt road encircling 3 sides of Mauna Kea, running between roughly 3000’ and 7300’ in elevation. It connects the town of Waimea on the northwest to the Mauna Kea Access Rd just north of the saddle on the south side of Mauna Kea. It forms a longer, lower elevation parallel to the R1 Road, which also contours around the mountain.
If you’re in the Waimea area and looking for an easy and pleasant running route, you could do much worse than Mana Rd. The road itself leaves from Highway 19 (the Mamalahoa Highway) within the town of Waimea; the pavement ends and fun begins about 3 miles in at the intersection of Mana Rd and Mealani Rd. Parking is available at a public water facility at the corner of that intersection.
We went running on Mana Rd a few times; the longest was 10 miles out (for a total of 20 miles out and back; this is the track linked in the GPX). Those first 10 miles constitute a significant proportion of the total climb for full route – it levels off between miles 10 and 20 before slowly climbing another 3000’ over the final 20 miles. The road is wide and well maintained, and sees more traffic than any of the other dirt roads we ran on, mostly from ranch vehicles rather than recreational drivers. It seems to attract a fair number of bicyclists, walkers, and runners in the miles close to Waimea as well.
The first 10 miles from Waimea mostly consist of open ranchland – but don’t let that deceive you. The views up and down the mountain are extraordinary, especially when the sun is low and playing off the clouds either in the upper reaches of the volcano and along the Hamakua coast.
Charlie’s notes: Mana road was a pleasant respite from the otherwise often doggedly technical jungle rooted and lava rocked paths on the island. The images of the glorious sunsets with colorful clouds over the sweeping grassland on the slopes along this road are one of my strongest memories from the island.
Laura’s notes: I. LOVED. THIS. ROAD. Unbeattable views and epic sunsets. It was such a pleasure to jog along without needing to worry about route finding or dogs. Well-used by walkers, runners, cyclists, and other recreators.
