Our Guide to the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden in Hawaii
Last Updated on April 12, 2024 by Kelly
One of the most lush places we visited in Hawaii was the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. The garden contains every shade of green I could imagine! With the Koolau Mountain Range as a backdrop, visiting the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden was the perfect place for vacation photos. It was definitely a must-see for our Hawaii itinerary.
We recently visited the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii. The gardens are a bit of a local gem, as the entrance is “hidden” in a residential area. Unless you already know about the garden, it would be easy to miss since it’s away from the main tourist spots!
In this post, I’ll share everything you need to know about visiting the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden.
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Our Visit to the Garden
The Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden is a spectacular park that covers over 400 acres. It was first opened in 1982 and recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.
You can drive through the park in as little as 20 minutes, or you can camp overnight and spend the full day in the park!
We spent a couple hours at the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, and it felt like just the right amount of time for us to take it in.
In our experience, it’s a fairly busy park. There was a line of cars snaking through the park as soon as it opened. However, most people seemed to stay in their cars and drive through the park.
There’s several parking lots within the garden, and there were plenty of parking spaces available. There’s also a few turn-out spaces along the road.
We really liked taking pictures outside of the visitor center. We were able to park our car, cross the street, and have the trees and mountains in the background of all our photos.
The Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden’s name means “to make a place of peace and tranquility“, and the name certainly fits.
When you visit the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, you’ll see a variety of tropical plants from Hawaii, Polynesia, the Philippines, and more. Not all the trees and plants are labeled. We recommend that you visit the visitor center first to learn more about the specific species in the garden. They had an information room with lots of descriptions about the local plants.
We thought that this was a great free activity to do in Hawaii.
Important Visiting information for the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden
- Official Website for the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden
- Hours: 9am-4pm (closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day)
- Address: 45-680 Luluku Rd. Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi 96744
- Admission: Free
For the casual visitor, we recommend setting aside 1 to 2 hours to visit the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. It takes about 20 minutes to drive through the park, but if you stop at the visitor center and some of the other parking lots, you’ll want at least an extra hour.
If you’re planning on completing some of the more extensive trails, you could easily spend half a day at the garden. The garden is over 400 acres, so there’s a lot you can see.
Photography Rules at the Garden
You may have seen epic photos of the entrance road to the park on social media. Many influencers posted photos of themselves walking down the middle of the road with the mountains as a backdrop. It’s important to know that photos are not permitted on any of the roads at any time.
There are now signs posted throughout the road that clearly state that photos are not permitted. Even if you did break the rules to snap the photo, it would not be a pretty photo with all the signage they have prohibiting photos!
I had read online that if you arrived before the garden opened, you could take photos along the entrance road. This was incorrect. You’re not allowed to take photos on the road at any time. Please be respectful of this new rule. There are plenty of great places to take photos within the garden that aren’t on the road, I promise!
| See our complete list of 53 things to do in Honolulu! |
What to See at the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden
There are lots of things to see at the garden!
Visitor Center
The first place you should stop is the Visitor Center, which is located shortly after the park entrance. In addition to finding restrooms, you can grab a map and learn a bit about the garden’s history and plants.
A lot of the photos we’ve included in this article were taken just outside of the visitor center! There’s plenty of grassy spaces that have the Koolau Mountains as a backdrop.
Tip: Listen to the Jurassic Park soundtrack as you drive through the park!
Lake
There’s a short trail off of the visitor center that will take you to a beautiful lake. If you’re looking for a shorter “hike”, this is a great option! (Note: Fishing is not permitted at the lake at this time.)
Trails
There are tons of trails within the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. You can view details for one such trail on the AllTrails website. Most of the people we saw at the garden just drove through the park, but you could easily spend more time hiking and enjoying the trails.
Camping
It is possible to camp at the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden:
- Kahua Kuou
- Kahua Lehua
- Kahua Nui-Makai
The campsites are suitable for tents (not RVs). You can make reservations no sooner than two weeks in advance.
Camping is available on the weekends starting 9am on Friday and closing at 4pm on Monday.
Directions
The Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden is located about 15 miles from Waikiki Beach. It took us about 30 minutes to drive to the graden from our resort in Waikiki. We rented a car from Paradise Rent-a-Car. We only rented a car for one day, so we combined our visit to the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden with a visit to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. It worked out great!
The entrance to the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden is located off of a residential neighborhood in Kaneohe.
We visited the garden right before it opened. When we arrived, there was a line of 5 cars ahead of us. There’s a security guard at the entrance that prohibited pedestrians from entering the garden before the park officially opened.
We saw a guest trying to sneak by the entrance to take photos walking along the famous road before it opened, but the security guard stopped her. Visitors are no longer allowed to take photos on the road at Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. It presents a safety risk and is prohibited.
Summary
When you’re planning your Hawaii trip, make sure to schedule at least one day away from the beach and check out this botanical garden. Walking through the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden was an absolute dream. We made a short visit to the gardens because we had a limited amount of time, but I could have easily spent half a day. (It would have been so dreamy to have packed a picnic!) We highly recommend that you visit the lush Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden!
Disclaimer: We always strive for content accuracy. Since the time of publishing, travel-related information regarding pricing, schedules, and hours may have changed. Please look up such information directly from each vendor or institution for the most current information.
