Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden

Yes, it’s one of the best free things to do on O’ahu. The best part is that it gets you over to the windward side of the island where frequent showers keep the landscape extra lush and green. As you drive over, you’ll get to see the Koʻolaus up close. After a rain shower, you can often see several waterfalls dripping down the mountains’ ridges. Plan a day around it. Bring a picnic, visit nearby beaches and the nearby Byodo-In Temple.

Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Gardens is one of five botanical gardens on Oʻahu. Here are the other four. Wahiʻawa is my favorite after Hoʻomaluhia. You can visit it on the way to the North Shore from Waikīkī.

Foster Botanical Garden — 50 North Vineyard Boulevard, Honolulu, (808) 768-7135

Liliʻuokalani Botanical Garden — 123 North Kuakini Street, Honolulu, (808) 768-7135

Koko Crater Botanical Garden — 7491 Kokonani Street, Honolulu, (808) 768-7135

Wahiʻawa Botanical Garden — 1396 California Avenue, Wahiʻawa. (808) 621-5463

What makes Hoʻomaluhia different from the other four is its close proximity to the Koʻolaus and its famous entrance — one of the most photographed locations on Oʻahu. It is also the only botanical garden on island with camping and catch-and-release fishing.

Yes. Admission and parking is free. There's no ticket booth, simply walk on in. Fishing on Wednesdays and Saturdays is also free, but you must obtain a fishing permit. Camping is $32 per campsite. *Note: Starting 2027, Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden will begin charging admission. The cost has yet to be announced.

Yes, there are mosquitoes. Make sure you spray down with insect repellent as soon as you get out of your car before entering the park. If you do that, you wonʻt notice them. I watched a man in front of me swatting at his legs the whole time he was walking down one of the garden paths. He obviously did not get the memo.

The tree-lined driveway leading up to Hoʻomaluhia is the reason this garden went viral in the first place. Palm trees, rainbow eucalyptus and native trees arch over the road with the Koʻolau mountains in the background.

The problem is, this is a road that people drive on, not a photo set. In addition to visitors, there are staff, campers and delivery trucks that need to use this entrance too. There is no place to safely pull over in order not to block traffic, and getting out of your car to pose for a photo not only backs up traffic, it could cause an accident. There is a park attendant who now sits at the entrance. If you try to stop for a photo they will come over and tell you to keep moving. Here is what you should do instead:

• Park in the Visitor Center lot at the top of the road, then walk back down along the shoulder to shoot.
• Have someone in the passenger side of the car snap a quick photo while you are driving in or out — do not stop your car. Someone coming around the curve behind you might not see you in time and run into the back of you.
• Overcast or lightly rainy days are the best photo days at Hoʻomaluhia. The windward side of Oʻahu gets this weather often, so don’t try and plan your trip for a sunny day. Embrace the grey!

Visitor Center

Start here. It's the small building at the entrance with restrooms, a map of the property, exhibits about the plant collections and an information desk. This is where you can also borrow fishing poles on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Grab a map so you don’t miss anything. The garden is bigger than it seems.

Walk the Path to the Lake

A paved walking path leads you through the garden of tropical American plants to the campground and picnic area and eventually to the lake.

Drive the loop road

Alternatively, you can drive Luluku Road, stopping at each pull-off to walk each short path in the garden’s collection. This is an easy way to see the whole garden in an hour if you don’t want to walk down to the lake.

Hoʻomaluhia is organized by geographic origin — each area displays plants from a different tropical region. This is the order in which you will come to each one:

• Malaysian/Philippine — Located at the Visitor Center, to the far left. Rainforest plants from Southeast Asia.
• Tropical American — Located at the Visitor Center. Includes plants from Central and South America, such as pandan, rubber and the Panama-Hat plant — the leaves used to weave these popular hats. A fun fact I learned on our walk was that Panama hats are woven in Ecuador, not Panama.
• Sri Lankan/Indian — Flowering trees and spice plants.
• Native Hawaiian — Plants that existed in Hawaiʻi before Polynesian contact, plus the “canoe crops” brought by Polynesian voyagers.
• Polynesian — Plants from Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
• Hau Trees — A collection of hau trees and related tropical flora.
• African — Baobab, sausage tree and other African species.

A 32-acre lake sits in the middle of Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden, with the Koʻolaus reflecting in the water. The lake branches out into several streams, making for two separate, but joining paths. The first forms a semicircle around the lake and the second is a loop trail bounded by streams. You'll arrive at the lake with ducks waddling along its edges. When you reach the water’s edge, you will see dozens of bright orange midas cichlids, also known as red devil cichlids.

If you turn left you can make a leisurely stroll to the far side of the water. If you go right, follow signs for the 1.5-mile Stream Trail Loop. It's mostly an overgrown trail that runs through muddy thickets around nests of hau tree branches. Through information boards, you'll learn that the body of water beside you is actually a dammed up reservoir that was dug out in the ’70s, meant to save nearby residences from the type of deadly floodwaters that had besieged the area in the ’60s. Enjoy the tinkling of fresh stream water as you venture out of the forest and into an expansive patch of rolling grasses. Inviting benches dot the loop, as do several attractive bridges, including one over a koi pond. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, you can find families fishing out of the lake. There is no swimming allowed.

"I ka Uhiwai o ke Ko‘olau" by Kaili Chun is one of several art installations located around Oʻahu in the Wahi Pana series — an island-wide public art initiative funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge. Wahi Pana, or storied places, explores the complex history of Hawaiian land through 11 site-specific multimedia installations by Native Hawaiian artists and storytellers.

This installation features four vertical sculptures designed to frame specific peaks of the Koʻolau range that are considered sacred Hawaiian ancestors. You can find these on the south side of the pavilion in the African Plants section.

Camping at Hoʻomaluhia is Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights only. Sites are grassy, near the lake, with cold-water showers and restrooms.

Camping permits cost $32 per campsite and become available online every Friday at 5 p.m. HST. You must book two weeks prior to your desired camping date. Each campsite can fit up to 10 people, three tents max. You can arrive with up to three vehicles per permit.

Rules to know:

• No fires or open flames. Cook stoves only.
• No swimming in the lake.
• Quiet hours after 10 p.m.
• Gates lock at 4 p.m. — if you leave, you cannot get back in until 9 a.m.
• Bring bug spray. This area gets lots of mosquitoes.

Catch-and-release fishing is on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It’s free, but you will need to obtain a fishing permit ahead of time. You can borrow a bamboo pole from the Visitor Center. Barbless hooks only. Species in the lake include midas cichlids, tilapia, tucunaré (peacock bass), catfish and carp. Many local families come here to fish, it is a favorite pastime of the community.

From Waikīkī: About 45 minutes. Take H-1 West to Likelike Highway (Hwy 63), exit at Kamehameha Highway, turn left at Luluku Road. Drive until it dead-ends at the botanical garden.

From the North Shore: Just over an hour. Take Kamehameha Highway South, turn right at Luluku Road. Drive until it dead-ends at the botanical garden.

From Kailua: About 20 minutes. Take Kamehameha Highway North, turn left at Luluku Road. Drive until it dead-ends at the botanical garden.

Parking is free, both at the Visitor Center and at each pull-off along Luluku Road. The entrance gate closes at 4 p.m.

Hoʻomaluhia allows small weddings, elopements and photo shoots with a permit from the City & County of Honolulu Botanical Gardens office. This is where you can obtain a permit to have a photo shoot on the entrance road. Popular spots also include the lake, the palm groves, the mountain-view picnic area and along the walking paths. All commercial photography (paid photographers) requires a permit. Non-commercial personal photo shoots do not.

Dogs, and pets of any kind, are not allowed at Hoʻomaluhi.

Byodo-In Temple: 10 minutes north — a replica of a 950-year-old Japanese temple in the Valley of the Temples. Adults $10, children (2-12) $6, seniors ($8). Kamaʻāina get $1 off the price of admission with a state ID.

Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout: 15 minutes west, on the way back to Honolulu. Windy, dramatic cliff views over the windward coast.

Kailua Beach: 20 minutes north — one of the best beaches on Oʻahu.

Kualoa Ranch: 25 minutes north — the working ranch where Jurassic Park, Lost, and Kong: Skull Island were filmed.