From Opus

[edit] Overview

This is a placeholder for my growing description of Tree Planting Road, which crosses the eastern saddle above Hilo, going 10 miles from Saddle Road (16 mile marker, elev. 4200 ft) to Stainback Highway (2900 ft) on Mauna Loa's eastern rift zone. (The "Kulani" area) I would not recommend this area for bird watching, as there are not that many birds compared to other parts of the saddle. However, there are a few interesting natural features and views on this road, and it's a good mountain bike ride for those who like mud and rocks, or just a good place to get far away from civilization.

I recently visited this road again for the first time in a year, and I was very interested in studying the various plants growing along it. About 1/2 mile in the road leaves the scrubby forest growing on the 1855 lava flow saddle road is built on, and enters a much more dense forest. There are a lot of clermontia growing along the road here.

I rode my bike down Tree Planting Road just once, starting at Saddle Road. It's good that I took my bike that time, because I had to ride through several ponds that covered the width of the road. I went only as far as the 1984 lava flow, where there is a very nice view of Hilo.

Another attraction beyond where I stopped is the 1942 lava flow, where my map shows some sort of nature preserve (probably just a fenced area for studies) just off the road on the lava. Otherwise you're travelling through VERY dense, low ohia and fern forest growing on various generations of lava flows, and won't see much scenery.

If you decide to go off-road, use some trail marking tape or something, because this is some extremely rugged country. ASSUME that if you get lost here YOU WILL DIE. (Maybe you won't, but I'm not kidding, take it seriously)

This is a very rainy part of the island, so it's best to start at or before dawn on a clear morning and plan to be back by noon. The "road" is just a 6-10 foot wide 4WD trail bulldozed through the forest and over the lava flows, and is often covered with a few inches of standing water at intervals. It is very smooth off of Saddle Road, and gets a bit more rugged pretty soon. It seems to be open to serious 4WD vehicles some parts of the year, as well as bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs, etc. It isn't very difficult on a mountain bike, but very bumpy. Check the sign at the road entrance for hunting information, and wearing bright colors is a good idea. If you search the internet for "tree planting road" you'll find at least one very good page about the road, with topo maps and elevation profiles.

If you have a good map (e.g. the Bier map, or USGS topo map) you'll also see a short straight trail starting off of the same side of Saddle Road just downhill from Tree Planting Road, and heading downslope diagonal to it. This trail isn't much at the beginning where it crosses scrubby forest on the 1855 lava flow, but after about 1/2 mile it also drops off the 1855 lava flow surface, and down into a VERY dense forest that's quite interesting and has a decent assortment of birds.

Another interesting place to explore in this area is the powerline service roads running parallel to the other side of Saddle Road, and the trails leading off of those to places like the Wailuku River. Otherwise, lonely Tree Planting Road crosses a VERY remote part of the Saddle, and there's no other road or trail crossing the Saddle between Ola'a Flume Road at the 8 mile mark and Kulani Powerline Road at the 22 mile mark. That's an interesting feature in and of itself!

[edit] Birds

[edit] Notable Species

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[edit] Rarities

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[edit] Check-list

Birds you can see here include:

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[edit] Other Wildlife

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[edit] Site Information

[edit] History and Use

Finally a bit of trivia - Tree Planting Road, Powerline Road, Stainback Highway and the other trails on this part of the saddle once formed the course for an off-road motorcycle race every year.

[edit] Areas of Interest

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[edit] Access and Facilities

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[edit] Contact Details

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[edit] External Links

See also: Eastern saddle, above Hilo, Big Island (Hawai'i)(Kulani Powerline Road) and Saddle Road powerline service roads, Hawai'i(East half (Hilo side) of the Saddle Road,)

Content and images originally posted by bkrownd