The Hamakua Coast is known for dense forests, steep cliffs and sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. Although parts of the region are largely inaccessible on foot, a proposal for a new trail through the area, running from Hilo to Waipio, could someday change that.

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The Hamakua Coast is known for dense forests, steep cliffs and sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. Although parts of the region are largely inaccessible on foot, a proposal for a new trail through the area, running from Hilo to Waipio, could someday change that.

Hawaii County Council member Heather Kimball, whose district includes Hamakua, presented the idea last week at a meeting of the Hamakua Community Development Plan Action Committee.

“The concept here is that we would be developing a hiking and biking trail that would serve to connect all of the historical communities on the Hamakua Coast, highlighting some of the remnants of the cane-haul infrastructure, as well as the railway, and some of the historic bridges and other sites along the coast,” she said during the meeting.

Kimball told the committee she was preparing a request for proposals to conduct a feasibility study to assess the potential of the trail project and gather feedback.

“There’s a big piece of this that has to do with community engagement, and I want to make sure that with this feasibility study, that is something that comes first and foremost,” she said. “And that’s one of the reasons I’m here with you today, is to get your input as part of our community to help finalize this draft RFP.”

The trail could cover over 50 miles, potentially passing through a mix of public and privately owned land, something CDP committee member Leonard Luiz highlighted as a potential challenge.

“Landowners are very different over here,” he said during the meeting. “So, what I’m just getting to is, if I have five acres of land, if you want to come through, and I say no, what’s going to happen … how would you guys accommodate that?”

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Kimball acknowledged this as well and said conducting a feasibility study would help explore potential route options and evaluate property owners’ willingness to allow a trail through their land. She said she had been working with county planning staff to identify existing land easement options to allow for public access.

“If there’s an owner that’s unwilling to have the easement go by their property or through their property, then that’s a no-go, and we’ll have to find an alternative route,” Kimball said.

One of the largest landowners in the area is Kamehameha Schools, which oversees approximately 30,000 acres in Hamakua. Kimball said she had been in communication with the educational trust about the trail project.

“We have gotten support from Kamehameha Schools to provide access, public access, over their property for the northern half of the trail, which is a significant development and makes this project all the more feasible,” she said during the meeting.

After the meeting, Kimball told the Tribune-Herald that the trail was an idea she had been working on since her early days on the County Council in 2020.

“It has taken a while to get to this point — a lot of that was conversations with some of the property owners, like Kamehameha Schools, making sure that there was interest and willingness to work together from some of those folks,” she said. “That’s where we are.They want to see this feasibility study and talk about how those easements might be set up, and there’s still a significant amount of work to do, but at least those conversations are now happening.”

Once the RFP is finalized and released and a consultant is selected to conduct the feasibility study, it will take an estimated 12 to 18 months to complete, she said. From there, decisions will be made on whether or not to move forward with the project, what route the trail would take, who would be in charge of overseeing it, and how it would be funded.

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Email Grace Inez Adams at [email protected].