About an hour’s drive from the famed Kohala Coast resort area and beaches, Kalopa State Recreation Area and Forest Reserve offers visitors a different view of the island. Situated three miles inland from Mamalahoa Highway at the 2,000-foot elevation, visitors to the park enjoy the kind of quiet and solitude that’s rare on busy beaches. Expansive lawns and picnic tables make this a perfect place to hang out with good friends (or a book). But perhaps a bigger attraction are the hiking trails. The Kalopa Gulch Trail System borders (no big surprise) the Kalopa Gulch, offering views down into the 150 to 200-foot deep gulch an occasional glimpses of pools of water. What you might not expect to hear is this: Kalopa Gulch (and nearby Hanaipo Gulch) were “formed largely by meltwater from the Pleistocene glacial icecap of Mauna Kea.” Glaciers! In Hawaii! What a gorgeous hike this is. There are fern-lined trails through stands of eucalyptus, silk oak,...
