Pololū (Hawaiian spelling: ''Pololū'', stressed on the final 'ū') is the northernmost of a series of erosional valleys forming the east coast of Kohala Mountain on the

Island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...

. The word ''pololū'' means "long spear" in the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...

Features

The valley forms a deep cut in the side of Kohala Mountain, and is traversed in its entirety by Pololū stream. The upper (southern) end of the valley is located at coordinates .

Hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails criss-cross the valley, and lead in and out. The valley is fronted on the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

side by a beautiful

black sand Black sand is sand that is black in color. One type of black sand is a heavy, glossy, partly magnetic mixture of usually fine sands containing minerals such as magnetite, found as part of a placer deposit. Another type of black sand, found on b ...

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

. A yellow sand dune protects verdant areas inland from the occasional fury of the ocean.

History

Prior to European colonization, Pololū Valley was renowned for its kalo (

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

) farming. A particular variety of kalo (kalo Pololū) was grown here, notable for its crimson stems. Kalo farming was complemented by

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

in the 1800s. In the 20th century, though, the valley fell into disuse. A section of the Kohala ditch, which diverts water from Honokane Valley to the

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

fields of the North Kohala district, run along the sides of Pololū Valley. Hikes to and in the ditch are offered by a tour company.

Transportation

Pololū Valley is accessed from the North, from a lookout at mile 28 at the end of highway 270 (forming the terminus of

Akoni Pule Highway Tariqh Akoni is a performing and session guitarist and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. He is the former Chair of the Guitar Department at the L.A. Music Academy (succeeding Frank Gambale) as well as Musical Director for multi-platinu ...

) at coordinates . A relatively short hike on a graded trail leads to the bottom of the valley. The trail continues beyond the valley, climbing over a ridge to neighboring Honokane Nui Valley.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pololu Valley Valleys of Hawaii Landforms of Hawaii (island) Beaches of Hawaii (island)