Exploring Molokai

Elongated (38 miles by only 10 miles wide) and distinctively shaped like a shoe, Molokai is dry and flat in the west, with forested valleys and high sea cliffs in the east.

Although only 25 miles east of Oahu and in sight of Maui and Lanai, Molokai has never been a big travel destination, and locals are fine with that.

An ambitious cyclist pedaled furiously on a dirt road on Molokai.

A weathered sign marks the entrance to the rain forest of Kamakou Preserve.

Eight times a year the Nature Conservancy leads small group hikes into the Kamakou Preserve for residents and visitors. The trek is a rugged yet fulfilling daylong experience.

Trematolobelia, a plant in the bellflower family, can be found in Kamakou Preserve.

The showy ’uluhe with its forking stems is an aggressive fern that helps restore areas that have been disturbed, moving in, for instance, after a land slide and preventing soil erosion.

A red damselfly alit on the ohia plant in Kamakou Preserve.

On Molokai, a Chevy Tahoe drove along a rugged dirt road with 2-foot-deep ruts that could easily overturn most vehicles.

Ohelo ‘Ai or native Hawaiian blueberries grow in Kamakou Preserve.

Hawaiian hydrangea can be found in Kamakou Preserve.

These 50- to 100-foot-tall eucalyptus trees provide a canopy in the Molokai Forest Reserve.

The akala flower in Kamakou Preserve.

The Pepe’opae Bog, Hawaii’s oldest and most fragile. The bog provides a record of Hawaii’s ancient forests and climate.

Pelekunu overlook. Beyond are valleys and hills barely touched by civilization, and below is one of Hawaii’s last remaining free-flowing streams.