Off the Old Pali Highway and a 10-minute walk through a bamboo forest and trees lies the Kaniakapupu ruins, or known also as King Kamehameha III’s summer palace. With crumbling remains of four standing walls, the original doorway stands at the end of a stone pathway. It stands open, inviting any wanderer to come in and imagine what happened over 100 years ago.
In front of the ruins is a plaque that informs the casual visitor of the site. It informs them:
“Completed in 1845, it was the scene of entertainment of foreign celebrities and the feasting of chiefs and commoners. The greatest of these occasions was a luau attended by an estimated ten thousand people celebrating Hawaiian Restoration Day in 1847.”
Visitors who come said they experience the feeling of mana that remains at the site. “I liked how secluded it was,” said Vicki Hext, a senior studying hospitality and tourism management from Arizona who visited the ruins. “It was quiet. There was a reverent feeling to it.”
Near the plaque may be offerings to the sacred site, ranging from food to leis that are placed in front or on top of the plaque or rocks in the site. Though it is not enforced, respect for this site is encouraged and expected. Visitors should leave rocks where they lay, not vandalize, and be careful not to climb onto the walls.
Not popular, this site sits in silence, occasionally visited by tourists who found a blog that wrote about visiting the ruins. McKenna Kummer, an undeclared freshman from Colorado, learned about the site from a friend. Having hiked Manoa Falls the same day, she said her friend mentioned the ruins was on the way home. “We stopped as a side trip,” said Kummer.
Finding out about the luau held there in 1847, Kummer said after she visited the site, “I work at the PCC at the luau. It was fun to imagine the same thing [that happens at my work] happening in more of a historical setting.”
To get to the hike, visitors have to get onto the old Pali Highway from the current Pali Highway. Driving they will reach a tunnel of trees and will have to park at the western opening of the tunnel. Walking down the road, there will be walls of leaves and a view of the mountains before there is a large opening in the road leading to the trail.
Visitors need to go down the trail, climbing over a tree and take the first left (in the bamboo forest) that they come across. They will then have to walk for a few more minutes before they come to the clearing where the ruins are.
Talking about the hike, Hext said she visited the ruins when it was raining. “It was super muddy but not hard,” she said. Previous hikers, such as Kummer and Hext, suggest for future hikers to bring a camera, bug spray, and shoes they do not mind getting dirty. Hext also suggested visitors bring a picnic lunch if they wanted to stay longer.
“I highly recommend stopping by and going to see it,” said Kummer. “I wouldn’t do it as your main day hike, but as a side hike. It’s worth it if you do.”