Pu’u O Kaimuki Mini Park

Love including this park into my jog. Such a great view of the area and usually empty of people. Thanks everyone for keeping the park clean and the park maintenance for keeping the grass cut with all the rain we have been experiencing!

In the last month, I’ve been here about 10x just to relax and take some cool pics. There are no benches but small grassy are surrounded by a small wall. Its a great place to take a plate lunch and take in the beautiful sunsets. Theres views in all directions from Kaimuki to Hawaii Kai, to Diamond Head and Waikiki. In the evening theres always a group with cute dogs. Theres alway parking close by.
You know there are some late night shenanigans going on here as there are alway beer bottles and laying around. I wish they would at least clean up after themselves!

This park is really a secret that you probably wouldn’t know existed unless someone brought you up here. Parking is difficult at times because it’s only street parking and this street seems to have lots of driveways! It’s a short steep walk up a paved road that used to be meant for cars until it was chained off and then you quickly get to the top where you’ll find a huge metal Christmas tree (that gets lit up every year after the Kaimuki Christmas Parade!) and a panoramic view of Honolulu and Hawaii Kai. Beware of teenagers.

This park is astonishing. You have to either park here or walk here. Both are a short distance depending where you start from. It is strange. it is in the middle of Kaimuki with the fire station below it. Then you stand near a small building with a Christmas Tree in lights on top of it. The great splendor of Kaimuki is right in front of you. It is absolutely amazing that this park is right here. It exists. There is a view. Then you have to walk over a chain link length to back to where you came from.

Passive, active, maxi, mini.
Public parks in Hawaii come in all shapes and sizes– there are some that are as small as a tiny residential lot while others can humongous in size over rolling hills and valleys.
Puu O Kaimuki was once known as Menehune Hill and for Kaimuki folk, da bunker hill above and behind da Kaimuki fire station. That’s because there was once an abandoned flat bunker type of bldg, loose rocks and keawe brush that made for great exploring during our wonder years. This was our battlefield, jungle, alien planet, you name it– a great place to imagine what adventures would lie ahead for some twenty somethings minus ten.
Today, the area consists of a nice level grassy area that has spectacular views of Diamond Head, the Honolulu skyline, Wilhelmina Rise and Kokohead (when the trees and brush are trimmed back) There is a bldg that has cell-​type antennas located on top. Official entry is via Ocean View drive which is just around the corner from the fire station.
Usually on the night of the Kaimuki Christmas Parade there is a tree lighting ceremony on top of that hill where the lighted string tree can be seen by many parts of Kaimuki and when traveling on the freeway. The tree shines throughout the night during the Christmas holidays.
This park is considered a passive mini park meaning it’s not large (less than an acre) and does not have lights, table or benches. It is a daytime park, do not recommend going at night as it can get sketchy– posted hours are there for a reason.
Really nice at sunset, would not stay there too much later than that. Still worth a visit during the day. There used to be geocaches there, not sure if it still holds true.
Buy some snacks from the Crack Seed Store, walk up the asphalt walkway and daydream about the fun that decades of Kaimuki kids had up on bunker hill. Listen, can you hear their laughter? It’s from that glorious and wonderful past known as small kid time.

I only come here twice a year for the awesome fire works view on fourth of july and new years. However there are no bathrooms, only street parking on adjacent streets. Steep incline to get to the top not good for elderly. The little foot traffic makes this park relatively private if your willing to hike it. Its not lit at night however so pick your stays safely. They also removed the benches.
My thanks goes out to the community that made this past years tree lighting possible. Mahalo nui loa.

Above the Kaimuki Fire Station on Koko Head Avenue, you will find Puu O Kaimuki Mini Park. It is not really much of a park, as it is a viewpoint.
While you could walk up the dirt path in front of the park, it is much easier to enter from the concrete pathway on Ocean View Drive. There is a confusing sign in front along with a chain rope that makes it seem like it is not okay to enter the park. But it is okay as long as you visit during the hours posted.
The walkway is a little steep, but it should be no problem for most people. Much easier than actually hiking to one of the places that you see here. The park has an expansive view of East Oahu. You can see the Honolulu skyline to your west, Diamond Head to the south, Pacific Ocean to the east and the Koolau Mountains to your north.
This park is also the spot of a tradition in Kaimuki during the holiday season. This is the site of the Kaimuki Christmas Tree which is a holiday light attraction that can be seen by the nearby community and by drivers on the H-​1 Freeway passing through.
The only con about this viewpoint park is that it is prone to vandalism. There is a structure on top of the park that was full of graffiti. I would not recommending venturing alone here at night.
Puu O Kaimuki is a nice find. You would not expect a place in Kaimuki to have such a great view, but this turned out to be a great spot to take Facebook worthy landscape photos of Honolulu.

One of my favorite places to think at night. It’s beautiful.

Love this park!

Taking pictures in a studio at sears is great because it’s air conditioned, you have trained professionals (not really), printing and uploaded to a website for almost immediate gratification. However you will pay ginormous amounts of money and the results are mediocre at best. So I asked our wedding photographer if he could do baby pics and he agreed.
We met at this park to start our picture taking. I wanted outdoor pics because there’s nothing like the real outdoors in pics. Also this park was really empty. Good when you only want your baby in a picture not the whole neighborhood. The park is a nice open field which I want to bring my dog one day so he can just run his craziness out!
Don’t expect much except a lot of grass and flat field of it. It’s perfect for pictures with grass and nice shady trees. You’re probably thinking oh perfect for a picnic too! Not really unless you want to picnic with Hawaii’s ant population. So many ants when we were taking pics that I’m surprised none showed up in our pics! Good thing we brought a blanket so kent didn’t mind the ants and the pokey crab grass!
Go here if you wanna bring your dog so he can run and run. But there’s no fence so keep an eye on your pets. Only street parking I think but luckily there’s a lot! Don’t tell everyone about this place. We might want to take our son’s 1 year pics here and while I might love you yeepers, I don’t want you in my pictures haha!

This mini park is not really a park, but more of just open space that City officials deem it a park with a Hawaiian name. I never had viewed this spot, behind the Koko Head Fire Station, an actual park before. Once I ventured over here on a run, I saw the sign that bears the legal name of said park. I had no idea, but it was there. Most of the time, the park is nothing more than trees and dirt. Not much grass here, since there’s not much rainfall in Kaimuki anyways.
I come up here to be by myself and my thoughts. To see the world differently and just reexamine why life is this way.

This mini park may not compare to the other larger and more accesible public parks out there, but it’s definitely one of my favorite spots in Kaimuki.
Located right above the Koko Head Fire Station, it is a steep trek to reach the top of the park, but once you get there, the view of Kaimuki and the city beyond is amazing. During the Christmas season, a giant Christmas tree (made of metal and lights) is lighted and can be seen above the fire station.
I usually go up here if I want to get away and clear my thoughts (kinda like a secret hiding place). And while I would prefer to keep it a secret, this park deserves a review of its own on the pages of Unilocal