By J “Walk” Smith

“Donkey Trail” skirts Onomea Bay and is a perfectly short hike that, depending on what time of year, almost anyone can do. If the trail has been dry, it is easier because there are less opportunities to slip and fall. In such conditions, the whole thing can be hiked in under an hour; you will be done just when you are feeling warmed up. Whether rain or sun, I suggest going slow and really soaking up every sight, sound, and smell.

In the beginning of your journey, stop at the very top of the trailhead and look down into the turquoise water. See if you can spot a sea turtle swimming below. Descend the trail and find a sandy creek with small tranquil waterfalls separated by a giant beautifully carved boulder.

This is a marvelous place to stretch for a little while. Let your tender bare feet feel the cool sand and cold creek. For the responsibility that our feet carry, it amazes me how tender they really are. Compare them to the donkey hoofs that used to pound this trail in the sugarcane days. Ponder the name of this trail, “Donkey Trail.” In recent history, donkeys were the beasts of burden who hauled the heavy operating supplies and exported goods for the commercial sugarcane industry on their back, up and down the rocky, muddy hill.

Think for a while about the global population’s insatiable desire for sweets. How has it grown or changed throughout history? What would this valley have looked, sounded, and smelled like when the industry was in full operation here, before numerous factors constrained the Big Island’s sugarcane industry out of existence? It is so quiet now. What was it like when there was a town and factory? Who would have been here?

According to a placard at Hilo town’s Lyman Museum, “By 1850 the growth of Hawaii’s Sugar Industry was threatened by a shortage of workers. There simply were not enough Hawaiians. Wars, famines, foreigner’s diseases, and passing ships had almost decimated the native population. So the Planters imported.”

Much of Hawaii’s immigration history depended on when and where the cheapest labor could be extracted from. If there were such things as wars, famines, overpopulation, and economic depressions in one region of the globe than there was increased incentive for the labor force from those areas to accept any wage or new opportunity and be shipped here to Hawaii.

The little village and factory that was home to this diverse workforce and their families was destroyed by a tsunami in 1946; in its stead is the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden. Today, the majority of the world’s sugar (made from sugarcane) comes from Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, and Mexico.

Some of the current residents who’ve made this place home are the Brown Noddies. A Brown Noddy is a seabird that lives in many regions around the globe, such as from Australia to the Atlantic Ocean, but these ones here are some Hawaii’s last seabirds. Their houses, made of mud, grasses, and other debris, can be seen situated on the ceilings of the seaside cliff caves. Gaze across the bay toward these cliffs and notice the birds flying in small flocks near the cave openings.

There are so many intriguing things to notice on this hike from the palm tree forests to some truly giant male and female mango trees.

The trail eventually exits back onto the road that you are parked on, only further down and next to the visitor center of the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden. Walking the visually stunning roadway back to your car rounds out this trip into a perfect loop.

Directions:

Set your odometer to zero on the “singing bridge” (the metal bridge that spans the Wailuku River in Hilo) and go northbound on Highway 19. When you have traveled approximately 4.7 miles look on the right hand side of the road for a sign that says, “Scenic Route 4 Miles.” Turn right here: This is the Mamalahoa Highway.

The parking for the trail is exactly at the first scenic overlook of Onomea Bay: Look for a handful of tight “unofficial” parking spaces paralleling the side of the road. The trail immediately goes down a somewhat steep, yet well maintained foot path.