Review Date
July 1, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: pilgirm808 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Super fun trail with different sections for riders of all skill levels. I didn't take it from the Pali, I took it from the Waimanalo residential area. Climb is pretty tough but worth it. After the initial climb, you can take the ridge line trail, its kinda sketchy in some parts but the views are really nice. Or you can veer right and go down the river path just, be careful on the decent when wet, the river stones get pretty slippery.

Review Date
May 21, 2008

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: super88 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Rode this one based on the write-up in John Alford's book on Mountain Biking the Hawaiian Islands, and because it was the longest single track ride on Ohau. Parked at the first scenic turn-out after the Pali tunnels. The first mile is a bit... of walking. After that I was able to start cleaning _some_ of the left-handers (you'll see what I mean.) The shady left-handers are quite slick and rocky. If you're alone, I'd advise dismount for many of these. The ride wasn't necessarily "fun" for a first ride. After a few times you'd learn how to take certain obstacles, I s'pose.

Another interesting factor: at times the trail looks wider than it is! The flora grows up adjacent to the edge of the trail. So what looks like grass at times is actually air occupied by leaves. When in doubt, stay toward the mountain.

My advice: don't ride this alone/at least bring a cell phone.

Rented my hardtail from John Alford's outfit (www.bikehawaii.com), though it isn't their normal business. $40 for the day. It was a Kona, something. Not great, but I can honestly say I probably wouldn't have done any better on either of my bikes. I was a bit embarrassed to have a kickstand though!

Recommended Route:
My route: Parked at the first scenic overlook after the tunnels (from the Honolulu side), rode the trail to the end, took hwy 72 to 61 south back to the car- 2:30, 15 miles by my computer.

Review Date
February 27, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Mattster85 ,  Downhiller

Summary:
do not take this trail from the pali lookout unless you are really in to hiking your bike. rode it today and probably hiked 70% of the trail. all up hill, the downhill portion can't be riden because of rocks, roots, or hair pin turns on extremly slipperly rocks. i fell on one protion about 30ft. my buddy had to get a really long branch and pull me the rest of the way that i couldn't crawl. just take the trail end up until the dirt road ends and turn around and fly downhill. do it a couple of times if you want. the trail from the pali lookout is worthless. i promise there is nothing there worth seeing. it's a $#@!#!!!! i can't stress enough how much you will regret going that way.

Recommended Route:
Go to wiamanalo and turn on the residental street before the 7-11. take that down to the stop sign and make a right and the trail will be on the right. it will say maunawili deposition trail. take that dirt road until you get to the part where there is a fallen tree and turn around and fly down hill. for an alright trail go past the downed tree for about a mile, you'll know when you get to the part not worth riding.

Review Date
July 2, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: masonet_hardtail ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
The trail started with a quick DH from Pali Lookout, as all the other posters stated, stay right when you hit forks in the trail. I made a rookie mistake and landed on a rock about 15 min into our 4 1/2 hr ride, the bruise is healing nicely :0), this helped me ride more cautious the rest of the day. There are drop-offs at most of the hair pin corners, and some areas where mtn wall is on your right and drop-off immediatly left of the trail. The views were worth it, all the way down we were greeted with postcard like view, took about 40ish pics on the way down. Both of my legs cramped during the ride, and my heart was racing for a lot of the climbing, great work out.

Review Date
September 16, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 1 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: tsam ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
comming from east coast mainland with lots of technical and super trick trails, the maunawili is entry level to me. there are places where you hafta walk the bike (some stream crossing), unless you're hans ray. i live in waimanalo so i start the trail from the bottom and work my way up to the pali hairpin turn (approx. 10 mi). it usually takes me 2.5 hours including the ride home from the pali back to waimanalo on the road. it's a fast trail, but don't get over confident; there are some straight drops to your side in some areas. i once ended up with my bike hanging from my clipless pedals with my left elbow on the trail keeping me from falling off the edge (ride with a friend or bring a cell). i just moved to hawaii recently so i havent experienced many trails here, thus i can't compair trails except from maryland and west virginia. i still give it a 5 for fun factor.

Recommended Route:
just ride until youre tired