National Register Listing

Ala Loa

a.k.a. Kiholo-Puako Trail

Off HI 19 from Kiholo Bay to Kalahuipaua'a, South Kohala, HI

The section of the 19th-century trail included in this nomination is probably the longest and best-preserved segment remaining on public land on the island of Hawaii. It is highly visible in the bare lava flows and is now readily accessible to the public. The trail represents a major public work by the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Although the precise dates of construction have not yet been determined, most of the trail included in this nomination was probably completed late in the 19th century. Prior to the introduction of horses in 1803, travel in Hawaii was by foot and canoe. Foot trails typically were adapted to the terrain and were narrow and irregular. They served to connect communities with one another, and some trails crossed the island to facilitate communications among ruling chiefs. When draft and saddle animals became common, trails became wider and straighter to accommodate the large animals. Kerbstones were added to guide horses as well as to delineate the trail in barren places. Routes were altered to avoid steep or rough ground inaccessible to horses. As the Western money economy replaced the Aboriginal subsistence economy, commerce and traffic increased. With greater engineering sophistication, roads were "improved" by straightening and widening to speed the movement of people and goods. Such a sequence of development can be seen along much of the trail here nominated: an ancient shoreline foot trail still used by fisherman; an ancient, winding "forerunner" trail, well-suited to foot travel, lying roughly parallel to the Kiholo-Puako Trail; and further inland a modern highway paved with asphalt and used by motorized traffic at ten times the speed of horses.

Local significance of the site:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1987.