Banyan Drive in Hilo on the Big Island circles around the Waiakea Peninsula on Hilo Bay passing the bay front hotels and about fifty formidable banyan trees. Also known as the “Hilo Walk of Fame,” the route’s large and sprawling banyan trees have plaques that identify the people who planted them.
The trees honor movie stars, famous authors, political leaders, religious leaders and adventurers. Among the notables are Babe Ruth, Cecil B. DeMille, Amelia Earhart, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Hawaii Governor Oren Long.
Banyan Drive also passes the Queen Liliuokalani Gardens adorned with pagodas and bridges. A small footbridge leads to Coconut Island.
Over the years some of the famous Banyan trees have been lost to the tsunamis that devastated the downtown Hilo area. Remarkably most of the banyan trees have survived and continue to honor the many notable figures who planted them in the fertile soils along Hilo’s shore.