Hiking the Pipiwai Trail to the Makahiku and Waimoku Falls

When visiting Haleakala National Park in the Kipahulu District, past Hana, there are two very popular trails to choose from. I recommend doing both of them. The first and shorter trail (.5 mile), Kuola Point Trail, will take you to the lower falls of Ohe’o Gulch and the ocean. The longer trail (about 4 miles round trip) will take you to Makahiku Falls, through a bamboo forest and on to Waimoku Falls. This post will be focusing on the Pipiwai Trail.

The trail is very easy to access, it is across the street from the parking lot of the visitor center and signs will point out the way. At the beginning of the trail you will be greeted with this sign.

It is labeled as a moderate hike with an elevation gain of 800 feet. The path is rocky and uneven in parts, with a lot of stone steps. The beginning of the trail and the end, near Waimoku Falls, are the most strenuous areas. If you have walking sticks, they would be useful on this hike. It is only a half mile to Makahiku Falls, so if the trail seems to much for you, that might be a good place to turn back. The bamboo forest begins about a mile in and Waimoku Falls is 1.8 miles from the start of the trail.

You will be immersed in a forest from the beginning of the hike. The entire hike is beautiful and the area radiates a sense of peacefulness.

First up, the stunning Makahiku Falls. You will hear them before you see them. These falls are nearly 200 feet tall and are sure to captivate your attention for a while.

Next you will cross some wooden bridges which will bring you over a series of smaller falls. Be sure to stop and savor the moment, as on your way back you may be too hot, tired and thirsty to be fully appreciative.

This is the moment where you might decide to turn back. It is definitely the most precarious part of the trail. You will need to cross the log to continue on the trail. It is pretty narrow and I’d recommend side-stepping along it. There is a very sturdy rope above the tree to hold on to. The branches on the far side get in the way a bit, just plow right through. If you are afraid of heights don’t look down, the rushing water can be a litte nerve wracking. Full disclosure, I just made all of that up. I’m just messing with some of my friends who I know will be reading this. Crossing this is in no way part of the trail, just a pretty picture taken from a real, man-made bridge.

The next amazing sight to behold is a magnificent banyan tree. I love banyan trees! Something about these trees just captures my imagination and fills me with wonder. This reminded me of the many spectacular banyan trees that we saw on our visit to Hawaii at Liliuokalani Gardens and Wailuku River State Park.

I wish you luck getting a picture of this tree with no people in it. It is a very popular spot for picture taking. It is also pretty impossible to get the whole tree in the shot. I was using a wide-angle lens and I still could not get it all. About one mile in you will get to the entrance of the bamboo forest. It is impossible to miss and also an incredibly popular spot for photos.

We got in line for the photo-op. There were only two people in front of us, as we travel off-season as much as possible. It was also easy to be patient because it was so mesmerizing to gaze upon the forest on the far side of the bridge.

I’ve never seen anything like this before. The density of the bamboo was amazing and whenever the wind would blow the trees would knock together and make music. To imagine what it sounds like think of hundreds of wood wind chimes blowing in the wind.

The short video gives you a little taste of it, but doesn’t do it justice compared to how it sounds in person.

There are some wooden board walks along the path in the areas that tend to be the muddiest, which makes for much easier hiking. You will want to walk along the center, if possible, as some of them were a bit wobbly on the sides. Wobbly or not, you will be happy when you come across them.

When you get close to the falls, the forest will open up a bit and you will be looking at the cliff walls surrounding the gorge. The amount of small waterfalls you see will vary depending on recent rainfall. Just a little  farther on you will get your first glimpse of Waimoku Falls.

A dazzling 400 foot waterfall cascading down the cliff is your reward for your trek through the forest. It will stop you in your tracks when you first lay eyes upon it. While we were savoring the view from afar, a man hiking on his way back stopped and told us, “There is a sign up ahead that tells you not to go any further. You HAVE to ignore it. You can go around it and get very close to the falls. There are a lot of people down there, just ignore the sign….You will have to cross a stream, going from rock to rock, and it’s kind of slippery, but not too hard. Just watch the people coming back to see where they step. (I am not making this part up.) But, you HAVE to do it, it’s amazing.” We thought, ok, we will check it out. Then we hiked on until we came to the aforementioned sign.

Well, he didn’t mention that technically, you are breaking the law if you pass this sign. You will get an amazing view just getting to this point. If you bring a zoom lens, you can get excellent shots of the falls from here. I can not encourage you to break the law but I will tell you that should the park service decide to have someone down there to make a ‘waterfall viewing bust’ they would bring in a lot of money. The main reason the sign is here is safety and liability. The falls are fast and powerful and have thrown down rocks. You also do have to cross a slighty rushing stream to get closer, which could be very unsafe should a sudden downpour occur increasing the intensity of the flowing water. I won’t tell you what our decision was, people who know us will guess what our choice was.

Here is a zoomed in shot of the top of the falls.

And here is a zoomed in shot of the bottom of the falls. We spent quite a while here, taking pictures and simply enjoying the falls and the extraordinary view surrounding us. By the time we hiked there and back, stopping frequently for pictures and relaxing at our final destination for 20 minutes or so, four hours had passed. Our initial plan at this point was to check out Hamoa Beach before trying to hunt down the Huli Huli Chicken food truck. However, when we found Hamoa Beach there was nowhere close to the beach to park and we were starving and tired, so we decided to pass by and find food instead. This is another reason why I wish we had spent even more time in Hana. Hamoa Beach is a black and white speckled sand beach, the most popular beach in the area, and all we did was a quick drive by from quite a distance away. We had been hoping to spend a few hours there.

The Pipiwai Trail is another hike that I recommend 100%. It is said to be the most beautiful hike on the island. It was the most beautiful hike that we took during our 10 day stay. I am so happy that we allocated an entire day to spend exploring beyond Hana. We also had another night booked at the Hana Kai Maui Condos so we did not have any time worries concerning getting back up the road to Hana before the sun set. What would I do differently…bring some snacks. If we would have had some snacks to eat along the way we would have been able to stave off eating for an extra hour or so and would have ventured out to Hamoa Beach.

Our adventures for the day were not over. After a very late lunch/very early dinner, we headed over to find the elusive, which is no longer elusive, Red Sand Beach. Yes, the sand truly is red, but that will be next week’s post. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

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