There are four key points of interest on this trail. (There were five actually, but one proved to be too dangerous so the state closed it down.) The first one though is this enormous banyan tree.

The second is this view of Makahiku Falls.

The third is the picturesque bamboo forest.

And the fourth is the 400 ft Waimoku Falls.

The Pipiwai Trail is one of the finest hikes I’ve been on in Hawaii. It’s part of the National Parks System and is probably the most ridiculously well maintained hiking trail I’ve seen.

The Pipiwai Trail is located in southeast Maui. It’s within Haleakala National Park in the area called Kipahulu. The Pipiwai Trail is a 4-mile (round trip) hike that takes about 2 hours to complete. If you want to linger in the forest, you could spend up to 4 hours on this trail exploring the terrain and not be bored.

What I liked about the Pipiwai Trail was how much you get to see in such a short amount of time. And with an elevation gain of just 600 feet, the hiking is not too strenuous. You will break a sweat though.

Though the trail can be completed in 2 hours, it does take some time to get here. The Pipiwai Trail is located towards the end of the “Road to Hana” on Maui. It’s actually 12 miles past Hana town.

You park at the Haleakala National Park Visitors Center. Parking is $10. This is a different visitors center than the one at the top of Haleakala Crater.

This sign gives you an idea of what you can do in Kipahulu. The ‘Oheo Gulch label you see in the lower right of the sign is the Seven Sacred Pools.

The trailhead to the Pipiwai Trail is pretty unassuming.

From the start it looks like any other hiking trail in Hawaii. Pretty standard.

But then right away, you see some great views. You’re hiking along the western slope of a ravine. On the other side you can see the top of a bamboo forest.

Stop off at this overlook to take a peek of what lies below.

You’ll see the 200 ft Makahiku Falls.

Hike a bit more and you’ll come across this enormous banyan.

People have carved their names all over this tree.

The branches look like brontosaurus necks.

Continue on over a few bridges that seem well maintained.

The bridges take you over Pipiwai Stream and offers views of several step falls.

And then you enter the bamboo forest.

As cheesy as it sounds, this forest does feel “magical.”

As you walk through it you can’t help but think that Jet Li is going to fly over you at any moment.

The National Park Service has done a great job at making this hike accessible to most.

They cut out a huge hallway through the dense bamboo so you can easily pass through.

Then they created a boardwalk that keeps you out of the mud.

I was really impressed with the design of the boardwalk.

For me, it actually added to the beauty of the hike.

The boardwalk lasts for quite a while twisting and turning.

Photographers could easily spend an hour in this forest setting up different shots and compositions. I didn’t have my tripod with me, but I wish I had brought it. It would have definitely been worth it.

You eventually pop out of the forest and make your way to the stream.

You’ll walk on some wet rocks at first.

But then, just when the trail would get muddy, there are more boards in place for you to walk on.

As you start getting closer to the stream, keep looking up. You’ll see the Waimoku Falls between the trees. Remember, this thing is 400 feet tall.

The trickiest part of the hike is right before the waterfall when you need to cross the stream. Don’t be afraid to get your shoes wet in the stream if you need to. Better to have wet socks than slip on a rock and crack your head open.

When you reach the falls you’ll be standing in a giant waterfall chute at the bottom of a massive cliff.

Waimoku Falls pours down from the stream above.

There is no swimming hole at the bottom of Waimoku Falls. Do not by any means stand under this thing. Debris comes down with the water. Even a pebble could injure you if it hit you from 400 feet up.

You can get a good view from the hill. It’s a little eerie to stand on the hill when you realize it was created by a huge rockfall that happened when the sidewall of this gulch collapsed at some point in time.

After spending a few minutes taking photos at Waimoku Falls we set off on our return hike.

You go back the same way you came in.

See also:

• If you come to this area, I’d recommend staying a couple nights at the hotel in Hana called Travaasa Hana. I spent four nights there recently and found that there is a ton of stuff to do in Hana. It was so relaxing.
• We didn’t have time for this but if you do the Pipiwai Trail, you might as well walk over and check out Ohe’o Gulch, or “Seven Sacred Pools.”
• There’s a ton of stuff to check out on the Road to Hana. Here’s a website dedicated to the drive.

There’s an arch on the windward facing side of Koko Crater in southeast Oahu. It’s super easy to get to.

It’s a great place to check out and take pictures if you’re around the Hawaii Kai area or on the way to Sandy Beach.

Most people know Koko Crater for the tramway trail that goes straight up the face of it. People hike up it regularly to get a work out. I try to go once a week or so to get some cardio exercise.

You can hike up the tramway and then down the crater rim to the arch if you like. But a faster way to get there is to park at the Halona Blowhole Lookout and hike up to it.

Halona Blowhole Lookout is also where you park to go to Cockroach Cove (a.k.a. Eternity Beach).

This lookout offers some ridiculous views. During winter months you can typically see whales from here.

After you park you’ll walk along the road for bit. Stay on this side of the guard rail.

You want to make your way toward the Japanese fishing shrine. It’s that circular rock wall with the large stone in the middle.

But don’t go all the way to the shrine. Cross the street at the end of the railing. Hop the railing and descend to the right into the ravine.

Walk along the rock for a couple hundred feet and then make your way up the to ridge.

As soon as you see a way up the ridge that you are comfortable with, make your way up.

There’s no real trail to follow at this point.

But the sooner you get up to the ridge the sooner you’ll see these views.

It’s nicer to have views of the coastline than to be stuck in that ravine.

Look up at Koko Crater and you can see the arch. You might have to look closely as it sort of blends in.

The trail is well defined here though and you can’t miss it.

Once you reach the arch you can walk over it or under it. We started by going under. The dirt is all loose gravel here you so you’ll want to be wearing shoes with good grip. We went down the right side of the arch.

From here you can explore the area a bit.

It’s best to come here with a few people so you can have someone stay at the arch while you traverse the slope to get to this vantage point. On this day I came with Christina and Jake (Instagram: jake_of_all_trades).

If you’re going to go up the top of the arch you definitely want to be wearing some grippy shoes. The top is very steep and slippery.

I would advise against hiking up it in slippers. Sometimes there’s a rope up there but don’t count on it.

If you wanted to you can hike all the way up the rim of Koko Crater and then up to the top of the stairs. On this day we just wanted to take some photos and talk story at the arch.

Jake tried coming down this side of the arch and found that it was much more slippery (on account of the loose gravel) than the other side.

He went back up to find a comfortable place to sit.

Christina and I joined him back under the arch. We hung out for a bit happy to be away from any crowds. It’s a little tough to find a comfortable place to sit up here though as the slope is at an extreme angle.

Looking south we could see a bit of Hanauma Bay and Koko Head.

Eventually we went down the same way we came up.

Watch your footing here, the gravel is super loose.

We made our way up the left side of the arch.

The grade is super steep here too but the ground is course and easy for your shoes to grip on to.

At the bottom we made our way back into that ravine and back to the street.

It takes just 10-15 minutes to get to the arch from the parking lot. Once you’re done there are plenty of things nearby that you can do.

The closest “attraction” would be Cockroach Cove.

Other activities nearby:

• Hike the Koko Crater tramway.
• Go to Sandy Beach.
• Visit Portlock Point or China Wall.
• Hike down to the Makapu’u Tide Pools.
• Go to Pele’s Chair and Alan Davis Beach.

See also:

• Directions to the Halona Blowhole Lookout on Google Maps.
• Jake Marote’s incredible Instagram feed: jake_of_all_trades.
• Another story about the arch on HawaiianForest.com: HTMC and the Arch at Koko Crater.

I’ve posted about the cliffs on this side of the island before in a post called “Oahu’s Unreal Coastline.” On this day’s outing, we went to check out another section of the coastline. The cliffs are easy to access as they are just a 40 minute hike away from a major road.

The strong wind and constant waves have created a landscape full of beautiful textures.

One of the highlights of the area is this little rock bridge.

This wind eroded rock is another highlight.

We walked around and explored the coastline.

WARNING: Please note that it is extremely dangerous to stand on rocks along any coastline in Hawaii. Rogue waves can crash on the shore and sweep you away. Do not attempt what you see in the photos on this website.

This section of the coast formed a bowl. The water would rush in sideways, swirl around and suck out exposing the rock and coral.

To the right in this photo, you can see a small cove.

These little guys were all over the place. They are hard to the touch.

I haven’t heard and couldn’t find any background information on this rock bridge. It appears to have been formed by erosion.

There’s a big crack in the middle of it so I would not recommend standing on it. If you do, you are doing so at your own risk. So, please do not stand on it.

If the bridge were to collapse, you would fall into this swirling death hole.

Of course, some are willing to test their luck.

After we finished checking out the bridge we walked along the cliffs a bit more.

The wind shaped ridges make some excellent benches so we sat for a while and had some snacks.

While we were walking back to the trail a truck had appeared on the cliffs.

We headed back to the car and called it a day. But I would return about a week later to take some more photos.

On my second outing to the rock bridge and cliffs I invited some Hawaii photographer friends. I wanted to come back and get some different shots of the rock bridge and I figured it would be fun to go with a small group.

Partly cloudy seems to be the best lighting conditions for this area.

As we hiked in I noticed there were little pukas (“puka” means “hole”) in the rock.

These guys are John Hook and Zak Noyle. If you haven’t already heard of him, Zak is a Hawaii born professional surf photographer. He currently works as a staff photographer for Surfer Magazine. If you’ve seen his profile video by Red Bull, you probably know this guy has a pretty fun job. John is taking portrait shots of Zak for his sponsorship profile.

As Zak was standing on the bridge (which I do not recommend you do), a huge wave hit the rocks and splashed all over him. The waves were much bigger on this day. Tom (myspacetom) was snapping away and got this crazy photo.

John decided to face the waves head on and take photos of them.

The reason I wanted to come back to these cliffs was to get this photo. I screwed on a neutral density filter to my lens and took some daytime long exposure photos.

The waves end up looking like clouds.

We then walked further down the coastline to check out the cliffs.

These cliffs were also majestic.

Each one of these naturally formed pedestals was screaming to be yoga-posed on.

Waves splashed up on the cliffs and as they drained, formed some nice textures.

One of the many nice things about adventuring with photographers is that you get to borrow their lenses. Dallas Nagata White let me borrow a telephoto lens to get this shot.

Then she walked to the edge of the cliff to pose for me and Tom.

We should have been concerned but Dallas looked pretty comfortable up there.

John ended up pretty close to the edge as well.

Walking back we passed through this field of trees. The white bark stood starkly against the lush green grass.

Check out the work of my companions on this day (all of whom are Hawaii photographers):

• Dallas Nagata White – www.dallasnagatawhite.com
• John Hook – www.johnhookphoto.com / handsomeunicorn.tumblr.com
• Jonas Maon – www.jonasmaon.com
• Samantha Hook – instagram.com/sticksxstonesjewelry
• Tom Anderson – instagram.com/myspacetom
• Zak Noyle – www.zaknoyle.com

See also:
I have two other stories that feature this strip of Oahu coastline.

• Oahu’s Unreal Coastline
• Hidden Cove

WARNING: Please note that it is extremely dangerous to stand on rocks along any coastline in Hawaii. Rogue waves can crash on the shore and sweep you away. Do not attempt what you see in the photos on this website.

A few weeks ago, I went on a trip to Big Island with a group of Hawaii photographers.

One of the photographers in our group, Dallas Nagata White, organized a private tour for us from the good folks at Kalapana Cultural Tours.

For the last couple months on the Big Island of Hawaii, the lava has been flowing into the ocean providing some unreal views.

This was the second day of our short trip to Big Island. On the first, we spent the night before braving freezing cold temperatures some 10,000 feet above sea level stargazing on Mauna Kea. On this evening we would be standing next to scorching hot Hawaii lava trying to keep our shoes from melting.

There are very few places on Earth where you can see lava in person. And even fewer where you can walk right up to it. Kalapana on the Big Island of Hawaii is the safest and easiest to access of these locations.

Remember though that no one is entitled to see lava when they come here. The location of the lava flow and amount of visible lava changes daily. If you do get to see flowing lava, you should consider yourself pretty lucky. You can however get an idea of how much lava there is by checking out the Hawaii lava status report on the Kalapana Cultural Tours Blog.

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When I buy gifts for people I try to find something that would be useful to them and something they might not normally buy for themselves. So a lot of times I’ll choose brands that are known for being on the more expensive side, or something that many people would like to have but don’t necessarily need.

Gift giving is tough these days though. Even if you know you want to buy hiking gear, there are so many products out there to choose from. To help, I’ve put together a list of items that I think would make a Hawaii hiker happy.

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There’s this spot up on a hill that offers some unique views of west Oahu.

It’s a cave up on the mountain that’s being called “Upper Makua Cave.”

A few months ago, I hiked up here with Justin (Volcanic Rock Gym) and Hiro to see if it was possible to climb the roof of the cave.

If the rock was climbable, it would have made for one amazing climbing spot. But as it turns out, the rock here at Upper Makua Cave is too crumbly to climb. I was still happy that I got to see this spot and take photos of the views from up there.

Please note: this part of Oahu is not exactly tourist friendly.

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