From Opus

United States, Hawaii

Overview

Tree Planting Road crosses the eastern slope of the windward Saddle above Hilo for 10 miles from Saddle Road (16 mile marker, elev. 4200 ft) to Stainback Highway (2900 ft) on Mauna Loa's eastern rift zone. 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 open to 4WD vehicles roughly half the year, generally mid-summer through autumn. It is very smooth just off of Saddle Road, and gets far more rugged pretty quick. It isn't very difficult on a mountain bike, but very bumpy due to loose rock. 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.

I would not particularly recommend this area for bird watching, as there are not that many birds compared to areas further up Saddle Road. 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. Some might like to study the various habitats and plants growing along it. After entering the first forest/kipuka there are many mud pits and ponds on the road, so expect to get wet feet if you continue on.

For the first half mile the road crosses a scrubby forest growing on the 1855 lava flow. There are various parking pull-outs along this stretch of the road. The road gets really rough as it hits a much more dense forest of varying quality, which will be the densest bird concentration. After about 2.5km it crosses the 1881 lava flow, which is scrubby short forest again. Soon after it crosses the massive 1984 'a'a flow, which provides an interesting view of Hilo. Then there's a long stretch of forest before it crosses the 1942 'a'a lava flow. From the 1942 flow to Stainback Highway there is a mix of very weedy native forest and timber plantation blocks.

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

If you have a good map (e.g. the Bier map, or USGS topo map) you'll also see a short dead-end road starting off of the same side of Saddle Road just downhill from Tree Planting Road, heading generally East. 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 down into a VERY dense forest that's quite interesting and often has a decent assortment of common birds.

On the North side of Saddle Road across from Tree Planting Road is a large open parking area which has become a shooting range. (of debatable legality) At the northwest corner of the bulldozed area you may be able to find Marita Camp Trail to the Wailuku river. I would not recommend it to casual visitors.

Another interesting place to explore in this area is the powerline service roads running along the other side of Saddle Road. 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!

Birds

Notable Species

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Rarities

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Check-list

Birds you can see here include:

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Other Wildlife

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Site Information

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.

Areas of Interest

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Access and Facilities

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Contact Details

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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