Customer Reviews

The Hikers Guide to Oahu

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Working as an outdoor guide in Hawaii for a summer gave me a chance to discover the island of Oahu. It also helped me realize the that is the ONLY guide to hiking on Oahu that is worth buying. Not only do you get VERY accurate trail descriptions, you also get driving directions, directions from TheBus and information on flora and fauna in the area. I dare you to try and get lost!

Simple: this is the best hiking book ever published regarding trails on Oahu. How do I know? Not only have I used it, I've hiked a couple of times with the author and watched him take notes. An experienced hiker with over 20 years in these mountains, Stuart Ball knows what he's talking about and describes the trails with detail, map, and comment. I've seen the other books on the market - this is by far the BEST reference for hiking on Oahu. Ask anyone you find on these trails - they might just produce a copy from their backpacks!

this is a great hiking guide but please keep in mind the published date; it's quite old by now and as such, the detailed hiking descriptions are sorely in need of an update. thus, please be careful when using the guide as a reference, as you could end up getting lost. getting an opinion from local hikers would be your best bet.

I won a copy of the first edition of this book in a contest in 1994, and since then it has helped me find dozens of beautiful and enjoyable trails.

For example, one of the trails we found was a great hike in Wahiawa through the back country of an Army training base. As the author suggested, we wrote to the commander and we got permission to do this hike that rambles over hills and across streams, and all at the cool elevation of Wahiawa.

Some of the highlights of the book include great descriptions of the flora along the trail, reproductions of topo maps for each hike that show you the pitch of the trail(although you should probably get the real topo if you plan to get lost), clear route descriptions that show that the author has been on these trails many times, and a wonderful layout.

It is the best hiking book I have ever read (although I've probably only read about a dozen). It is without equal among O`ahu hiking books.

I just bought the second edition, and if possible, it's even better than the first one.

This book has taken us thorugh tropical rain forests, dense valleys, and sun-parched craters. The variety of hikes is wonderful. There is something for everyone in here, well, everyone except the beginner hiker. It seems even beginning hikes in the book are a bit challenging. This is because Oahu has such a varity of terrain. However, if you are looking to take a relaxing stroll through the woods this book will be of no use to you. We have children so we only do the novice hikes and even those are challenging, but fun and dirty! This is probalby for more serious hikers and some of the hikes mentioned are 12 miles long! That takes a long time in Oahu's terrain! The author always write in interesting tidbits of info in his hike description which I like. Things such as the where the strawberry guava trees are, where the WWII tunnel is, etc...The one negative to this book is that many of the hikes the author writes about are closed to the public and you have to write for permission to hike them. To me, this is a pain and I am not organized enough to plan ahead and do this. If you are better organized than I, I am sure you would enjoy them. We are just a bit more spontaneous. Enjoy!

Most people never hear of the great hikes available on the island of O'ahu, but I thought that if I were going to live there I would need a few more hikes than the "Famous Sacred Falls" hike that all of the tourist hike. I set out to borrow a few hiking books and try the hikes that they listed...Stuart M. Ball's book beat all of the others easily. I had no trouble finding the trailheads, the hikes were rated along lines that I agree with, seasonal variations are taken into account, and markers are clearly identified...although you may want to familiarize yourself with exactly what an Ironwood tree and Australian tea plants are before you try to use them as points of reference. This book has now traveled with me from the gulches of the Windward coast to the highest point of O'ahu...Mt. Ka'ala, and I've made it back everytime so far too. If you're going to spend any time on the island of O'ahu and want to get out and do some hiking then forget all the other books and get this one...it is obviously written by someone that has been there and done that.

Stuart Ball's book is an excellent resource for anyoneplanning to hike on Oahu. In fact, it has been in mybackpack on most hikes I've been on. Great info on how to get to the trailhead, the length and level of difficulty of the hike, and insights about what to see and expect when you're on a particular trail. The best Hawaii-based book I've read.

This book is very well researched and wonderfully descriptive. Yes, the vegetation does change over time so the red berries may not be in the same location the author describes, but one gets a sense of the hike before deciding whether or not to do it. I'm puzzled by some other reviewers who complain about the length or difficulty of some of the hikes. There's always the Diamond Head lookout with 3000 of your closest friends.
Yes, there are places on O'ahu where you can die if you fall (e.g. Waikiki on Saturday night) but don't blame the author for telling you about them.
This book is clearly in a class by itself; if you're serious about hiking O'ahu, then this is the only book you'll need.

i found myself sitting at home on my days off playing computer games or watching tv too much, so i decided to get out and go have some fun!! Dont wanna end up being a couch potato!!

i did the web searches for hikes and found a bunch but wanted something i could bring to work and read so...

After reading all the review , i picked this book because it always rated as the best book on hiking on Oahu...and it is! It shows almost all the hikes for Oahu, how to get there, what the trails like and a ton of information about how hard or easy, how long and the plants you will see on the hike.

i bought a few other books on hiking, Oahu Hikes: The Best Hikes and Walks on the Island (Lone Pine Guide) (lotsa nice pictures but not much info), Day Hikes on Oahu, 3rd 57 hikes but each on one page so again, not much information.

So, if you want to try your hand errr feet at hiking on Oahu, save yourself some time and money and buy this book!!

This book provides useful data on each trail: type, elevation gain, danger, difficulty and access. Each trail has a map.

Practical use of this book presents some problems which could be solved with a good edit.

One problem is that the information can be lost in the details. For instance, for some trails, the book says "At Punchbowl St. get on Lunalilo Fwy (H-1) heading 'ewa (west)." This is better said for tourists, "From Waikiki or downtown Honolulu take Highway 1 west." (Now the tourist does not have to find Punchbowl St., and wonder if "'eva" is some kind of choice that might be on a sign).

The trail maps are labeled with A, B, C, etc. designations. Unfortunately, you have to read the narrative to find out what the letters mean and the text may be confusing. For instance, for one of my favorite trails on p. 56, Judd-Nuuano, there are 5 letters. Letter A is not mentioned in the text. Letter C says it's the top of a ridge, "turn left" (does this mean there is an intersecting trail?). The text at point E implies that there are no options but to turn around and go back (is this strictly the case?) It would be handy, especially on the trail, to have next to these maps a legend for instance A- Judd Trail trailhead, Nuuano Drive. B - Nuuano Trail intersection.... (etc.) and letters showing the main intersecting trails. This way, hikers could know the options and have additional markers for determining their location.

We met a family looking for Maunawili Falls. They were headed away from the falls. I am not sure how they made their decisions, but they were using this book. The text was probably right, but its circuituous lack of clarity was the most likely culprit.

The book's strengths are the data that introduces each trail and the assembly of a lot of information. A good editor could put this in great shape.