Moanalua Gardens

Moanalua Gardens is a privately owned park off the Moanalua Freeway in Honolulu, open to visitors daily for an entry fee. Its tree collection includes the monkeypod known as the Hitachi tree and other monkeypods of exceptional size, all on the City and County of Honolulu exceptional tree list. Landscape designer Paul Weissich designed the present-day park, and an old Japanese tea house is now the gift shop. King Kamehameha V's Summer Cottage and the Chinese Hall, with its bridge and koi pond, can be booked for private visits and events. Take the Moanalua Freeway westbound to the Tripler exit; the entrance is just past a city sign on the off-ramp. There is no access from or through Pineapple Place, and the gardens warn that Google Maps walking directions are not correct. By bus, ask the driver for the stop at Fort Shafter's gate. Improvement work is under way, and the park stays open during construction.