Product Description

A guide for families and outdoor adventurers alike, the new and completely revised 2008 Trailblazer takes you to all of the Big Island's famous attractions, as well as its hidden spots. Nearly twice the size of the rest of Hawaii combined, the Big Island presents a challenge to adventure travelers with limited time. Trailblazer comes to the rescue with its trademark organization and clear directions for . . .

156 hikes and strolls: the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the shores of Waipio Valley and Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, rain forests and tropical gardens, waterfalls, petroglyph fields, and the Kona Coast
75 snorkeling and swimming spots including remote hike-to specials
39 surfing spots: boards, bodyboarding, and body surfing
24 bike trails for adventure cyclists: mountain, coastal, forest, pasture
25 campgrounds and rustic cabin hideaways

Hawaii the Big Island Trailblazer also includes . . .

9 maps and more than 200 photographs
A Trailblazer Kids section for adventuring famiies
A Best Of section that lets you pick the right activity for the right day
Resource Links with hand-picked accommodations and restaurants,recreational outfitters, transportation, and visitor information
Hawaiian culture and history
Museums, attractions and shopping
Driving tours to the Parker Ranch and Kohala Coast, Hilo and the Heritage Coast, and Kona coffee country
Safety tips and trip-planning advice

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17726 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780967007250
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
With its obscure roads and enormous size--nearly twice that of the rest of the Hawaiian Islands combined--the Big Island presents a challenge to adventure travelers who have limited time. The Hawaii The Big Island Trailblazer for 2008 comes to the rescue with clear driving and trail descriptions to all of nature's all-stars, from the top of Mauna Kea to the shores of Kealakekua Bay. Presenting vivid maps and its easy-to-use format, Trailblazer is a personal tour guide that fits in your knapsack. Hikers, snorkelers, and surfers can zero in on all the island's scenic masterpieces, as well as seek out the quiet wonders the Sprouts are known to discover.

You'll find jungle valleys, blue lagoons, red-hot lava, hidden beaches, and starry nights on the tallest peak in the world. A separate map and listing shows bicyclists the island's hottest single tracks, along with trans-island cycling routes. Several driving tours take you to the Big Island's panoramas, but don't neglect the local-style galleries and restaurants, coffee and macadamia farms, and cultural curiosities. Handpicked accommodations present campsites and rustic digs, plus choice B&B's and resorts, both glitzy and budget. Hundreds of beautiful photographs illustrate a text rich with historical and cultural background. Reading Trailblazer gives you the feeling of being there, and then makes you want to get up and go!

From the Author
HAWAII TRAILBLAZER is an offering to the strong and beautiful and intelligent people of the Big Island. May your message of Aloha spread to the farthest reaches of the earth and live on forever.

From the Inside Flap
STRATEGIES FOR VISITING THE BIG ISLAND

You can get anywhere on the island in one day, but in some cases it will be a long day of driving with little time for hikes and stops. You’ll need an active week to be able to see most of the best stuff. With two weeks, you won’t have to choose which featured attractions will have to be postponed until the next trip. A visit of three weeks or more is required to take a thorough gander. Depending on the type of visit you’d like to have, you can choose from among four different strategies for where to stay and for how long.

KONA BEACH HOG

Stay your whole visit in Kailua-Kona or Kohala resorts, choosing from among the modest to the swank. This option takes advantage of beaches and snorkeling. You can easily spend a week exploring beaches from Miloli‘i north to Hapuna. On alternating days, take day trips to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Kea, Hilo, Mauna Loa, and Waipio Valley. This may be the best strategy if you only have one week. Downside: You won’t see much of Hilo and the Puna coast, the island’s green windward side, and you will spend a longer time driving.

KONA-HILO YIN-YANG

Stay about half the time in Kona and half the time in Hilo. While in Kona, focus on the Kohala beaches, Kealakekua Bay, North Kohala, and South Point. While in Hilo, see Hamakua and Waipio, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, Hawaii Volcanoes, and the Puna coast. As a variant on the yin-yang, rob a day or two from Hilo and stay in Volcano, which is one mile from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Seeing sunrises and sunsets at the park is a big plus. You can pull off this strategy during a week’s stay, but it is perfect for a 10-day stay, or longer. Downside: The west side is normally sunnier and has better beaches.

ISLAND HOPPER

Stay at several spots on a trip around the island. You’ll enjoy mornings and evenings in different locales, and spend less time driving. For example, if you have 14 nights, spend the first 3 in Kona, the next 2 in Volcano, then 4 in Hilo, 1 or 2 nights in Waimea, and the last 3 or 4 back in Kona. Island hoppers will also want to consider Wood Valley and Hawi. This strategy makes most sense for longer visits and people who aren’t all about beaches. Downside: This is a lot of check-ins and checkouts. Two-night minimums are less hectic.

CAMP & INN HOPPER

The Big Island is ideally set up to circle around, spending some nights staying in rustic cabins and campgrounds, and then going modestly upscale in tasteful inns and B&Bs. Money-wise, you can do this for the price of a mid-level resort, or even less. See Camping and Rustic Lodging map, for these options. Look at Where to Stay to cherry pick among the top inns and B&Bs. Downside: Why does there always have to be a downside?

Customer Reviews

Unbeatable
We recently spent ten extraordinary days on Hawaii. It was our first visit and had we not read this guide cover to cover before arriving we would have wasted alot of time and money taking packaged tours $$$. The book is literally overflowing with activities and has a finetuned list of recommended hotels, b&b's and restuarants. Itinerary planning was easy knowing how far and long the trails were and previewing the locations using the photos in the book was an enormous advantage. The hikes are grouped with the snorkeling beaches and so we didn't end up doing alot of extra driving. Taking advantage of the insider tips and advice it became our loyal travelling companion. Our timing couldn't have been better with the volcano spewing rivers of lava. This turned out to be a real adventurous vacation that Jenny, Patrick and I will long remember.

Indispensable Active Travelers Guide
This is another winner in the Trailblazer series. For travelers to the Big Island who don't want to be limited to the fancypants resort areas, the Sprouts have clearly laid out hikes, bike rides, water sport spots, drives, campgrounds, historic sites, and adventures galore all around this most fascinating and diverse of all the islands. My wife and I had the guidebook in hand for hikes to Pololu and Waipio Valleys, a wonderful excursion to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a drive to historical sites on the north end of the island, and an architectural walking tour of Hilo. Along with clear trail guides and maps for active adventures, the guidebook also helped us find magnificent and not overcrowded public beaches for catching some sun, art galleries, bakeries, public markets, restaurants, and two of the best B & B's we've ever stayed in anywhere--Acacia Palms and Shipman House. As all the guidebooks in this series, the writing is clear and helpful and the design is stunning; this one has a particular richness of black and white photos. All the practical stuff, from what to pack to ideas for kids to resource links, is included. The authors are always respectful of local history and customs, and this volume--with its Hawaiian glossary and brief history--is particularly infused with that aloha spirit. And we always enjoy the "Free Advice and Opinion" sections: "Never walk downhill with your hands in your pockets." This is one useful guide to the rich delights of the Big Island.

Now in a completely revised, updated and expanded second edition
Now in a completely revised, updated and expanded second edition, Hawaii The Big Island Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Snorkel, Surf, Bike, Drive is a user-friendly guide to families and outdoor adventurers, offering 153 hikes and strolls on Hawaii's big island from the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, rain forests, botanical gardens, waterfalls, petroglyph fields, the Kona Coast, and much more. Also included are 73 snorkeling and swimming spots, 41 surfing spots, 24 bike trails, 25 campgrounds, a wealth of resource links with hand-picked accommodations and restaurants, safety tips, planning, advice, and much more. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this easy-to-follow travel guide. An absolute "must-have" for any Hawaii vacationer who wants to explore the wondrous outdoors of the big island. Also highly recommended to anyone exploring Hawaii's other islands are the companion volumes, "Maui Trailblazer" and "Kauai Trailblazer".