Mountain House Road
Easiest access to the Ka'u Forest Reserve.
Mountain House Road is one of the few public access routes into the Ka’u Forest Reserve (some others being Hao Springs Road and Waterfall Road), and it’s the easiest and most direct running route into the forest. The bottom portion is a paved single-lane road, which gradually disintegrates before turning to gravel and dirt a couple of miles in, but remains fairly well graded throughout. The whole thing is open to vehicles (up to a locked gate a few miles in); but with a normal two-wheel-drive rental, you’ll want to park before the potholes in the pavement get too burly. Parking requires finding a place where you can tuck in to the elephant grass enough on the one-lane road to leave space for other vehicles pass.
The route begins by passing through ranchland on the slopes of the mountain, before plunging into the forest around 2 miles in. A couple miles further, the road passes a locked gate for vehicles that is easy to step over. From there, the route climbs steadily until it terminates at an improved spring and piping system. Water from the springs here has been used for agricultural lands and small towns throughout Ka’u for hundreds of years. There are several smaller, more theoretical hunting routes that branch off of the Mountain House Road (including the purported path of the upper Hao Springs Road, and the 4wd road junction at 19.1288, -155.6112) but I didn’t explore these.
Charlie’s notes: Despite being a “road” for most of its path, this was a pleasant jaunt into the forest. The views of the coastline on the descent through the ranchland were superb.
Laura’s notes: This was not my favorite trail. Meh. The eucalypts along the paved portion at the start caught my attention with their colorful “autumn” leaves, and the ferny spring at the end was fun to see. But, the in between was, in my opinion, somewhat monotonous and choked with invasive plant species. A sad reminder of the state of the Big Island’s “best” flora in their forest reserves. But a good opportunity to get some miles in on a trail with very few people and seemingly-nonexistant dog danger.
