We started our next morning with another $60 breakfast (I think we may have got it down to $54, we tried at least) at Ken’s House of Pancakes. It was obviously good, as we kept going back trying to lower our breakfast bill each time. We considered sharing plates but we were so hungry in the morning from all the hiking we had been doing, and breakfast time is lunch time back home, so no one actually offered to be the one to share.
After filling our bellies we took off for Akaka Falls State Park, which is about a 30 minute car ride from our hotel in Hilo. Akaka Falls is located at the end of Akaka Falls Road. It is $5 per car to park in the lot. At the time we were there it was open from 7am-7pm. To check current prices and hours, you should look at Akaka Falls State Park website. Being on the trail in the park was the first time I felt like I was truly in a rainforest.
The first glimpse of Akaka Falls from the parking lot in Akaka Falls State Park
This is the first glimpse you will get of Akaka Falls. It plunges 442 feet and there is an excellent chance that you will see rainbows across the falls. Akaka Falls is fed by Kolekole Stream and eventually dumps into the ocean, which is several miles away. There is also a second waterfall at the park, Kahuna Falls, which are considerably smaller and very hard to see from the path which leads you as close as you can get; but it is a short walk and worth taking a peek. Maybe you will get lucky and it will be flowing more heavily and be easier to see when you are there.
Green, green and more green! This was taken while walking on the trail to Kahuna Falls.
The path, which is paved the entire way, is only a .4 mile hike, really more of a walk. It is a loop, if you choose to see both falls. When you enter the park, if you go to the right, you will go to Kahuna Falls. Kahuna Falls is a short walk (there and back). If you go to the left, you will go to Akaka Falls. I recommend going right, seeing the sad, little falls first, then finishing up the loop and ending with the amazing Akaka Falls. The interesting thing about waterfalls in Hawaii is that the intensity of the falls is related to recent rainfall. So, the sad, thin stream of a waterfall we could barely see, might be a rushing, spectacular site a week, or even a day, later.
You can never have too many pictures with banyan trees
The path does contain stairs, but it is only a 100 feet elevation throughout the entire park. You should give yourself 30 minutes to an hour here, depending on how long you plan on staring at the falls.
Akaka Falls do not disappoint!
They are certainly worth staring at for a while. Rainbows through waterfalls never disappoint! There is a nice, large viewing area here, as well as a covered pavilion. When you have had your fill, you simply follow the trail out.
A stream on the way out of the park
The rest of the trail continues to take you through lush vegetation and across several streams. If you drank too much water on your walk, there are bathrooms located at the parking lot. Our next destination was The Donkey Trail at Onomea Bay.
On our way back, we decided to stop at some of the quaint little shops lining Old Mamalahoa Hwy. It was at one of these shops that we learned why there were stray cats and mongooses running amok across the island. One thing we noticed our first night on the island was the amount of cats wandering around. In fact, I was concerned that all of these ‘pets’ were going to be hit by cars. The next evening at Liliuokalani Park we noticed quite a few mongooses (I did look up the plural of mongoose, just for this post) running around. One of the shop owners on Old Mamalahoa Highway was also a bird rehabilitator and she shared with us the story behind Hawaii’s feral cat and mongoose problem. In the 1800’s sugar plantations sprouted up all over the island, and with the sugar crop came a problem with rats eating the sugar. The plantation owners intentionally introduced the mongoose to try and control the rat population. Unfortunately, mongooses are diurnal and rats are nocturnal, meaning their paths were very unlikely to cross. The mongooses had no natural predators on the island and flourished, which was very unfortunate for the bird population. According to the shop owner, cats were then brought in to try to control the now rampant mongoose population and the rats; however, the cats also preferred to eat birds. Hawaii now has 30 species of birds listed as endangered or threatened. The cat problem is an area of contention among residents, with some people wanting to protect the cats and provide them sanctuaries and others wanting to drastically reduce their numbers or eliminate them entirely. I did not hear about anyone wanting to set up mongoose sanctuaries….hmmm, I wonder why….
As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.
(All pictures are available as Fine Art Prints or Digital Downloads for purchase at full resolution through Alamy. If you see something you like, click on the link. If you are unable to find it, use the Contact Me page and I will make sure the image is available.)
More Places to See in Hawaii
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Akaka Falls State Park
Haven’t they seen Rikki Tikki Tav? 😉 I love the Banyan Trees photo!
I was stunned that no one bothered to check if they were nocturnal or not, such a preventable mess they created. I would love to live somewhere where I could have a banyan tree in my backyard. Wouldn’t they make fabulous treehouse trees!