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.

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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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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You’ll need a 4-wheel drive truck to get to the trailhead for this hike.

Hike for 3.5 miles along a well maintained trail that’s cut into the side of the mountain (see top left section of photo).

In a short while you’re at the summit looking at this. (Pictured above: Josh Serrano.)

The Poamoho Trail is part of the “Na Ala Hele” Hawaii Trail & Access System. That means it is a state sanctioned trail, maintained by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and open to the public. You do need a permit to hike this trail though, but obtaining one is an easy task. You can learn about how to get a permit here.

Starting in Wahiawa (Central Oahu), you drive in 6 miles to the trailhead. The Poamoho Trail takes you up to a peak on the Kooloau Mountains where you’ll be treated to a massive panoramic view of the east side of Oahu.

If you talk to any avid hiker in Hawaii and mention the name Poamoho, they will usually pause and then talk about the trail with glowing praise. It’s no exaggeration. The whole experience, starting from the drive along the dirt road up to the approach to the summit, makes for a great day of getting in touch with nature. But, here’s the catch: you gotta go when the summit is clear. And in this particular part of the island, that can be a total crap shoot.

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We hiked along a dry stream bed through Makaua Valley in Kaaawa.

At the end, a trickling waterfall chute.

Then the rains came and the trickle turned into this.

And on our hike back, that stream bed was far from dry.

There are many waterfalls on Oahu that only flow during heavy rain. Makaua Falls is one of them. When we heard a storm was approaching the East side of Oahu, Kaleo (Island Trails) suggested we hike to the falls. I had never heard of Makaua Falls but when I looked it up I saw some photos of it on Josh’s 808 Goonies blog. I could see that when flowing, this waterfall is huge and I was stoked to check it out.

Please note though that bad things can happen when hiking through valleys like this. Especially in the rain. So, here’s my disclaimer…

DISCLAIMER: This blog post is for entertainment purposes only. It is extremely dangerous to go searching for waterfalls in the rain. You can easily die in this valley. The valley is narrow and you can be swept away in a flash flood. Also, rocks are constantly falling from up above. Even a rock as small as a golf ball can injure or kill you if it’s falling from 200 feet above. Do not attempt what you see in these pictures.

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This trail starts at the base of the Waianae Range on Schofield Barracks.

Coming up the ridge, paper bark trees will indicate where to make your ascent.

Certain times of the year, the views are green and lush.

While crossing a huge notch, be sure to look back and see this perfectly framed view.

If you’ve never hiked on the Waianae Range in West Oahu you gotta check it out. You may have heard of two hikes on this range: Ka’ala (highest peak on the island) and Kalena (knife edge ridges). But, there’s a lesser known trail called Pu’u Hapapa that we found to be super fun. I learned about Pu’u Hapapa from Kaleo’s “Island Trails” blog. He’s done a few different variations of the trail had great things to say about it. It turns out that Cory has done this trail too and offered to show us the way.

We went up a ridge that has two notches and came back down the same way. The hike is relatively short (at around 4 miles round trip) and offers beautiful views of the entire island. It’s would be a great introduction to the Waianae Range. I really really like this hike. Like, really.

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