Hilo Botanical Garden
by Joe
(Kona)
Hilo Botanical Garden is located 90 miles from Kona on highway 19 as you head towards Hilo. It makes for a nice day trip from Kona. We left at 8AM and got there at 10AM.
The Garden displays a vast variety of palms, heliconias, gingers, bromeliads, and hundreds of other rare and exotic plants from all parts of the tropical world - presently more than 2,000 species.
When we arrived at the garden it was pouring rain and we considered just going into Hilo and waiting till it subsided, but I noticed that it was blue sky off in the distance and thought that maybe the rain would just blow through in a few minutes, by the time we got our cameras ready it had stopped raining. Lucky us!
The botanical garden is a self tour, from the parking area to the bottom of the trail at the ocean is about a half mile length each direction. YOU HAVE TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE TO WALK THIS PATH!. Going down into the garden is easy, coming back out the last 500 feet will make you breathe hard.
Here's another tip: USE MOSQUITO REPELLENT! If you don't, they will carry you off like the evil flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz movie.
It took us 3 hours to fully explore and was well worth the effort. The garden took 8 years to shape into what you see today. It has an amazing story, you can read it by clicking click here and scrolling down the page to the part about the "The Vision of Dan Lutkenhouse.
The Garden is open from 9am to 5pm everyday, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, with Garden admissions ending at 4pm. This self-guided tour takes an average of about an hour and a half. The walking distance is just over a mile, round trip.
Admission for a day is $15 for adults, children ages 6 - 16 are $5. Children under 6 are free.
Directions:
Follow Route 19 to the Hamakua Coast until you are about 10 miles from Hilo. Pass the Pepeekeo post office. Watch for blue highway sign on the right saying "Scenic Rout." Turn left at the cross road intersection before the pedestrian overpass. Driving time from Kailua Kona is about 2 hours.
Now on to Akaka Falls
