Judd Memorial Trail

My boy is wrapping up his third week of Kindergarten and we are back from a long-weekend trip to CA, so things should start getting into a routine around here again.  (Fingers crossed!)  Seems like if it's not one thing disrupting our schedule it's a million others.  But while we're having a brief lull I'll catch you up on the fun we had over the summer.

We did a couple middle of the week hikes with friends, including one on the Judd Trail.  The Judd Trail is a one mile loop hike (my favorite) that goes through bamboo, eucalyptus, and Norfolk pine trees - a surprising amount of variety on this short Oahu hike!

We parked along Nu'uanu Pali Drive, covered ourselves with bug spray and headed out.  The hike begins with a stream crossing which my boy enjoyed so much he did it a couple extra times for good measure.  Some of the rocks tipped a bit and others were slippery, but our group made it across with only a couple wet feet.

The bamboo forest came first.  I love bamboo - as long as it's not trying to invade my yard and/or garden, but that's another story.  Back to our hike.  The bamboo forest:

You'll have to do the hike yourself to see the eucalyptus trees, but here are the Norfolk pines.  Cool looking trunks!

The trail changes elevation a bit (200 feet according to one trail description I found), and it intersects other trails along the way, but there are signs posted at most of the junctions so if you just pay a bit of attention you'll manage to stay on the loop trail.  My girl rode in the backpack but my boy hiked the whole thing on his own in his favorite footwear - island style slippers (aka flip-flops for my Mainland readers).  Most of the hike is in the shade which was nice on a hot summer day.

The last part of the hike (or first, if you decide to do the loop the other way) goes along this stream.  So pretty!

I plan to do this hike again and I'd definitely recommend it to hikers of all ages!

Do it yourself on Oahu:

Getting there:  Located off of the Nu'uanu Pali Drive, with the trailhead on the east side of a cement bridge.  Here's a link with driving directions.

Parking:  Parking can be a little tricky, but is doable.  There are a number of small pull-outs along the road as well as some neighborhood parking a little bit below the trailhead.  Don't leave valuables in your car!

Misc:  Take water and bug spray.  There are no restrooms at the trailhead or along the trail.