UPCOUNTRY MAUI MOUNTAIN BIKING

MAKAWAO FOREST – Beginner to expert 

This is some of the best and most popular trail riding on Maui. The trailhead is 25 min. from our shop to Makawao Forest. The forest is mostly all singletrack in a canopy of trees that offers a variety of trails for different ability levels. There is a flow trail called Pineapple Express which is the gem of the forest, which was built in partnership with IMBA, Maui Mountain Bike Coalition and local trail riders. Makawao Forest Reserve singletrack is a great way to spend a day or multiple days riding on Maui. Climbs are roughly 800-900 vertical feet depending on your route up.

KULA FOREST RESERVE – Poli poli – Intermediate – Advanced

If you want a portion of the Skyline experience without all the driving…consider driving to the bottom of the Poli Poli trail network instead, which is 45 minutes from our shop. You won’t come down skyline trail here, however, you will get to ride more single track, fire road and climb upcountry Maui with beautiful views of the Big Island on a clear day. You will mostly be climbing fire road that will bring you up to the top of Mamane Trail, Redwood trail and the Boundary trail. Mamane is a fun 1.5 mile singletrack that you can connect and ride back to your car after a short pedal back on the fireroad. This ride is at about 6500′ -7100′ elevation. Redwood and Boundary are Advanced trails with hike-a-bike sections and can be tough to ride at times. The Waikoa loop is a great addition to a ride. The Upper Waiohuli trail and Upper Waiakoa trail are under construction at this time. Anticipate 800-1000+ feet of climbing depending on your route.

SKYLINE TRAIL – Strong intermediate to Advanced

Great experience, great views, starting off with a mix of pavement, 6 miles of loose volcanic rock fire road, and 1.5 mi of singletrack along the Manane trail. Once at the bottom of Mamane trail you will ride a gravel road back to the paved road and down to the lavender farm. As an FYI, you will spend more time driving/shuttling (3-4 hrs+) than biking and it will take most of your day. Riders will also need to purchase 1-2 National Park passes for entrance for the shuttle vehicles. The upper portion of this ride is technical with loose sharp lava rock – that is like biking over marbles/ball bearings and is NOT suitable for beginners to beg. intermediate. This ride starts at 10,000′ elevation from inside the Haleakala National Park and ends in the Kula Forest Reserve at around 6500′.

Must be self-sufficient as their is limited to no cell-service along most of the route and very difficult for anyone to come help you if needed. Please remember you are at high elevation with limited resources nearby. Help could be multiple hours away. In order to ride this trail you must have a driver willing to drop you off at the start and pick you up at the end. The second option is to rent 2 cars and drop one car off at the finish, then drive to the top, then ride the trail, then drive back up to the first car, then drive back down to Paia. This is an insane amount of time in a car! Hitchhiking is not guaranteed, safe or recommend. Unless, you have a driver – we don’t recommend even considering this ride. No company is permitted to shuttle you to the top.

This trail causes Excessive Wear & Tear on our MTB’s at a faster rate. We notice after every ride the damages the bikes receive after riding Skyline. Please understand the burn rate of our mtb parts when riding Skyline Trail and therefore that is why we have to charge an extra $25 per bike fee when riding this trail option.