The Long Fight To Protect Public Hiking Access In Hawaii Isn’t Close To Over … A Maui nonprofit is suing the state and a ranch for failing to protect a historic trail. It’s the latest battle in the islands to ward off closures by private entities and government agencies.
Almost 50 years ago, Dave Brown hiked from the top of Olinda Road through Haleakala Crater for the first time. He was mesmerized.
The self-described “history buff,” then in his 30s, had come across Haleakala Trail by reading a 1950s guidebook detailing how the footpath once served as a main thoroughfare from Central Maui to Haleakala. For centuries, Hawaiians had used the trail to traverse the island and access the sacred summit for cultural and spiritual practices. Later, in 1866, Mark Twain traveled the same route to the crater, a sight he described as “the sublimest spectacle I ever witnessed.”
