Wahiawa Hills is a beautiful area in central O`ahu to hike and
Geocache. Access is from the end of California Ave. (N21 30.505
W157 59.209) in Wahiawa.
Access to this area is controlled by the U.S. Army and the State
of Hawaii
You will need to contact the army to get permission to enter the
area, write to:
Commander, U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii
Schofield Barracks HI 96857
You will also need a State permit which you can get at:
(http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/pubs/oahu_colllect_camp_hike.pdf)
Now to get to the cache itself.
The cache IS NOT at the coordinates at the very top of the page.
That is the entrance to the UNDERWORLD. The cache is about a 10
minute walk into the UNDERWORLD where GPS just do not work
The Poamoho Tunnel was built to divert water from Poamoho Stream
into Kaukonahua Stream. Kaukonahua flows into Lake Wilson and the
water WAS used to irrigate thousands of acres of sugar cane. Sugar
is no longer grown on O`ahu, but the tunnel is still there and the
water still flows through it.
The Geocache is located in this tunnel. You have to enter the
tunnel from the end where the water leaves it. The Poamoho entrance
is to dangerous to enter. As you will see in photos below there is
a big drop from the stream to the tunnel. While at the exit you can
easily drop only 3 feet into the tunnel.
During the late spring, summer and early fall this should be a
safe adventure. During the late fall, winter and early spring there
may be to much flow to walk into the tunnel. Use your brain before
you enter the tunnel or you may really wind up in the
UNDERWORLD!
Some of my past hides have been found to fast so I’m going to
make this one harder. I’m only going to give you the coordinates to
where you enter the UNDERWORLD, for the finger ridge leading down
from the main trail,N21 30.970 W157 58.719 and
for the starting point. From then on you will have to use all your
skill in the woods to find the way. I’m even going to remove the
map from my hiking web page.
You might want to “track” your “route” into the UNDERWORLD so
you can find you way home. The Wahiawa Hills area has many trails
and many of them are marked w/ribbons of various colors. You’re on
your own to find your way.
Once you enter the UNDERWORLD your feet will be wet. Today
August 19th, 2007 the water was almost 2 ½ feet deep at one spot
early on. Most of the time it’s just above your ankles. There is NO
PLACE TO PUT THE CACHE DOWN once you find it. I do not recommend
you do this alone. A partner will come in handing holding a light
and the cache while you write in the log and sort through the
contents. And for safety sake you are also to far from civilization
to be alone.
You should be able to reach the cache in about 3 hours, that is
if you know the way. It may take longer so plan ahead. Get started
as early in the morning as you can. And I sure hope you have a good
GPS unit as much of the way is in heavy forest, w/very tall
eucalyptus trees. My DeLorme GPS lost all satellites on the way
down from the main trail. My Garmin GPSmap 60Cx only lost the
signal in the UNDERWORLD. I hope you bought a good one.