Photo: 293.xx.xxx.xx · CC BY-SA 3.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Makawao
16% of Makawao’s land is conserved, about 363 acres. 14 acres are parks and preserves, 1.9 per 1,000 residents. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Makawao, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns · #75 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Makawao?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Makawao have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Makawao is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #75 of 93 in Hawaii. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Hawaii towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Makawao’s 16% is ahead of 55% of Hawaii towns, while its trails per square mile lead 8% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
363 conserved acres
16% of Makawao’s land. Who manages Makawao’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Landowner Watershed Protection Area Watershed Protection Area | Private owners | 279 | Closed |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 55 | Unknown |
| State Department of Land State Resource Management Area State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 27 | Open |
| Makawao Park Eddie Tam Center Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
1 places to go in Makawao
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Makawao: April to August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 11.0 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.1 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 12.8 | 12.2 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 10.9 |
| High (°F) | 68 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 70 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 |
June is the driest month (0.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 3.6 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Makawao →
Makawao and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Makawao | 16% | 0.1 | 2 | 66% | C+ |
| Olinda | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Haiku-Pauwela | 2% | 1.2 | 5 | 16% | C+ |
| Haliimaile | 1% | 0.2 | 7 | 90% | C+ |
| Kula | 28% | 0.5 | 3 | 9% | B− |
| Pukalani | 4% | 0.2 | 3 | 71% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Makawao
How much of Makawao is conserved land?
16% of its land, against a typical 14% for a Hawaii town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Where can I bike in Makawao?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Makawao?
9,659 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Makawao or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 41 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Makawao have?
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #75 of 93 in Hawaii. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Makawao neighbors.
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →