One of the most rewarding, but little-known hikes in all of Hawaii is the trip to Kalaupapa, the Hansen's disease settlement on Molokai. Most Hawaii residents are well aware of the colony made famous by Father Damien, the Belgian priest, who cared for the leprosy patients confined there. But few know of the foot trail which descends the sheer pali behind the peninsula, dropping 1,700 feet down one of the highest sea cliffs in the world. The views on the way are awesome, but even more stunning are the wild, magnificent scenes of cliffs and sea at Kalawao, where the tour below stops for lunch.
Use of the trail is only permitted by customers of the Molokai Mule Ride or hikers with a reserved tour of the settlement with Damien Tours (808-567-6171). For this reason, no information on location of the trailhead is provided in this article.
Kalaupapa Peninsula from top of trail, with the settlement above and to the left of the beach.
The trail is just under 3 miles long and involves 26 switchbacks on its way from the cliff top to the shoreline. It is not dangerous, but it does require sure footing and a toleration of heights. It is uneven and rocky, with stone steps in many places.
Looking down from near the trailhead
Because visitors to the park are restricted to those over 16 years old, children cannot make the trip. And, since a mule train makes a daily descent on the same route beginning at 8:30 am and arriving at the bottom at 10:10, hikers need to get a head start - unless they want to follow a train of mule poop all the way down. (However, there is no escape from this on the way back up).
Starting down
In some places the trail is cut deeply into the rock, protecting the hiker on the exposed side
At other places, the only protection is a small fence
Hiker takes a picture after descending the cliff
After about an hour and a half, the trail ends at the shoreline,
where two ladies pose for a photo op.
At 10:10, right on time, the mule train arrives,
as does a bus from the settlement. The hikers and the mule riders combine on the bus for the tour of the park. The first thing apparent on the tour is the silence and the absence of people from the streets. Our guide explains that although there is still a small population in the settlement, consisting of people who have decided to remain voluntarily, they are mostly elderly patients, some of whom are ill, incapacitated, or consider themselves disfigured and unwilling to move about in public.
One of the first stops on the tour is the grave of Mother Marianne, who spent 35 years nursing the leprosy patients of Hawaii.
Another stop is the Damien monument, not to be confused with his grave.
The tour bus then crosses the peninsula to Kalawao, on its eastern side, and stops at St. Philomena Church, built by Father Damien and his patients in 1876.
Beside the church is a small cemetery, within it Father Damien's grave. In 1936, his body was exhumed and returned to Belgium.
The final stop on the tour is lunch at Judd Park,
with its magnificent view of Molokai's dramatically beautiful northeast coast.
