Botanical Tour and waterfall swim at The Mauna Kea Cloudforest Bioreserve

Botanical Tour and Waterfall Swim at The Mauna Kea Cloudforest Bioreserve

Join a botanical tour of the Mauna Kea Cloudforest Bioreserve located above Hilo, featuring an arboretum, botanical garden, and farm with exotic palms, conifers, native Hawaiian forest, and natural waterfalls.

Learn about the botany of montane tropical cloud forest plants, including temperate conifers like coast redwoods growing alongside tropical palms from New Caledonia and Madagascar. Discover native Hawaiian forest ecology and native birds such as the Hawk (‘io) and owl (Pueo).

The tour highlights conservation projects like carbon sequestration, Christmas tree development, regenerative grazing, and soil conservation. You will also see tropical fruit trees such as jackfruit, banana, pineapple, cacao, and pili nut trees.

The experience concludes with a swim in Kikala Falls. The meeting point is Mauna Kea above Hilo. Opportunities to purchase certified plants produced on-site are available.