Between the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway turnoff and the first condominiums of Waikoloa Village, Waikoloa Road climbs through open lava and grassland. Most people drive it on the way to somewhere else. A stretch of it is about to become a restoration site you can see from the car window.

The Waikoloa Beach Resort's Naupaka News reported on September 1, 2026 that the Waikōloa Dry Forest has expanded to nearly 400 acres of land "collectively owned by the community." Jen Lawson, executive director of the Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative, told the newsletter, "We've completed fencing and are now preparing the restoration project. It is along Waikoloa Road, so people will be able to see it."

Entry to the preserve is through scheduled programs. In November, the most popular of those programs starts half an hour earlier.

From a Leased Sanctuary to Land the Community Holds

The preserve started small and on borrowed ground. According to the same Naupaka News piece, a group of Waikoloa residents formed the Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative in 2011. Its stated mission was to "protect, promote and restore the native Hawaiian dry forest." The group secured a 75-year lease on 275 acres just southwest of Waikoloa Village from the Waikoloa Village Association.

That land was set aside to protect the wiliwili tree and the plants that grow alongside it: Koʻoloaʻula, kolomona, ʻōhai, ʻaʻaliʻi and pua kala. Over 15 years, the work ran mostly on volunteers doing native seeding and forest restoration. Lawson describes the stakes in blunt terms: "Wiliwili trees were populous on the island at one time, but about half of the entire population died off over the past century in Waikoloa and continued to do so in recent years."

The jump to nearly 400 acres changes where the work happens. The original preserve sits back from the road at the end of a gravel track. The new restoration ground is along Waikoloa Road itself, the route coastal residents use to reach the village and the upcountry. The published reports do not say who held the added acreage before or how it was acquired. They do say the fence is up and restoration is being prepared.

There is a precedent for what the next phase might involve. In August 2024, the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Kaulunani grant funding for a Waikoloa Community Forest Expansion project. That project was described as a community-driven effort to replace 10 acres of invaded grassland with 10,000 native plants. WDFI's own restoration page lists its methods as invasive plant control, propagating and planting native species, collecting and scattering seed, and monitoring.

Why the Front Gate Runs on a Calendar

The preserve has a street address, Quarry Road, Waikōloa Village, HI 96738. It does not post general open hours. WDFI's visitor page is organized around guided hikes and sign-ups, and the published materials do not describe drop-in visiting outside its programs. The offerings listed in the Naupaka News article are field trips, Mālama ʻĀina volunteer days, the First Friday Huakaʻi guided tours and the Biocultural Talk Series, "Stories of Place."

The programs are busy. "There are people in the forest almost every day of the week," Lawson told Naupaka News. "We want people to feel like it's their forest."

For a household planning the rest of the year, these are the public dates on WDFI's current events calendar and volunteer sign-up form:

The talk series is quieter at the moment. WDFI's Stories of Place page describes the talks as free and open to the public, running 6 to 7:30 p.m., with sign-up required and donations encouraged. Its fall listing was September 18. No later date is posted yet.

The November Shift on the Sunset Walk

The First Friday Huakaʻi is the easiest way in for anyone who has never been past the gate. WDFI's guided hike page describes walks across the lava past ancient wiliwili trees, with views toward Kohala and stops at kīpuka that volunteers and staff have replanted with native species. Each walk ends with sunset viewing and refreshments at Hana Hou Hale, the preserve's open-air pavilion.

From February through October, the walk starts at 5 p.m. From November through January, it starts at 4:30 p.m. October's First Friday has already passed, so the November 6 hike is the first one on the earlier schedule. That half hour matters on a weekday. A 4:30 meeting time on Quarry Road means leaving the coast earlier than a 5 o'clock habit would suggest. The December 4 walk is listed from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

WDFI is direct about the conditions. The route crosses uneven ground in exposed areas, and the weather "can be hot, dry, and occasionally very windy or rainy." The page asks walkers to wear sturdy closed-toe shoes and sun protection and to bring a refillable water bottle. There is no fixed ticket price; donations are encouraged, and the visit page has a form for choosing a date and group size.

Getting to Quarry Road

The turn is easy to miss the first time. From the coast, WDFI's directions are:

1. Turn onto Waikoloa Road at the Blue Hawaiian Helicopters heliport off Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway.
2. Drive up the hill for 4.8 miles. Quarry Road is on the right, just before the first condominium complex in Waikoloa.
3. Turn right onto Quarry Road and stay right at each of the two forks.
4. Pass a chain-link fence on your right. The road turns to gravel.
5. Continue about a third of a mile on the gravel and park along the side of the road near the front gate.

From Waimea, the approach runs the other way. Take Māmalahoa Highway to Waikoloa Road and drive 7.2 miles down through town until the landscaped median ends. Quarry Road is on the left, and the same two right-hand forks lead to the gravel stretch and the gate.

What the Wiliwili Are Doing When You Arrive

The wiliwili, Erythrina sandwicensis, is one of Hawaiʻi's few endemic deciduous trees. WDFI's plant profile explains that the trees typically drop their leaves in summer during drought and then flower in late summer. The flowers grow along a raceme and open from the base toward the tip. The same page cites an ʻōlelo noʻeau that ties the bloom to the season now underway:

"Pua ka wiliwili nanahu ka manō." When the wiliwili are blooming in the fall, sharks are biting, a saying that lines the bloom up with the sharks' mating season.

Mature trees reach 20 to 30 feet tall with a canopy of similar width. They produce bright red-orange seeds and need very little water once established. The wood is very light when dry. According to WDFI, it has been used for the ama, the outrigger float of traditional canoes, and some of the earliest surfboards were made from it.

The tree also gives the preserve its biggest public day. West Hawaii Today previewed the 2026 Wiliwili Festival, which ran Saturday, February 14. WDFI's festival page described it as the 15th annual event, held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A 2027 date has not been published.

The Morning Volunteer Shift

The fence along Waikoloa Road is done. For the past 15 years, the restoration work has relied on volunteers. Lawson told Naupaka News that "volunteers have been instrumental" in restoring the wiliwili and other native species. WDFI's volunteer page lists the work as trail building, weed clearing, planting, native seed collection and propagation. Volunteers sign up for a specific date.

The Mālama ʻĀina listing for October 15 explains how a session runs. The group meets at the preserve front gate at 8 a.m., spends the morning working in the preserve and finishes at the hale. WDFI provides tools, gloves, safety equipment and water. Volunteers bring sun protection, a refillable water bottle and sturdy shoes. The listed dates for the rest of the year are October 15, November 14, November 18, December 12 and December 17. One Saturday in November and one in December make it possible for weekday commuters to take part.

Once restoration begins on the new ground along Waikoloa Road, the work will be visible to everyone who drives by. For now, the way in is a reserved spot at the Quarry Road gate: 8 a.m. on a volunteer morning or 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday of November.

Wiliwili at sunset on Quarry Road is one of the quieter Kohala Coast afternoons, and the kind of local knowledge Doreen Trudeau is glad to share with neighbors and their visiting family. If you'd like a few more afternoons like this one, or a conversation about what is changing along Waikoloa Road, Doreen is always glad to talk. Work with Doreen and request a private consult.