Maunawili Falls is a waterfall that is so popular among tourists, one hiking access route was closed shortly after we arrived in Hawaii in order for trail restoration to occur. This leaves a couple other, much longer, options to get to the waterfall- the one we took was a 6.5 mile total hike. A couple friends had been eager to go on it, so I asked them to choose a date so we could plan to go together with KOSC. Well, they both ended up needing to bail due to life circumstances, and in fact only 3/14 registrants ended up committing. It’s a pretty typical problem with my hikes. Nonetheless, we trekked and had a great time!
The parking for it is on the “hairpin” turn on Pali highway- it is a really small parking lot and there were threats of both tickets and broken glass. When we arrived, there was a ton of broken glass on the ground. Thankfully, even though we were out on the hike for four hours, my car was safe and sound.
The trail starts pretty ominously with this non descript warning… these signs are around Hawaii due to unexploded bombs I believe. Strange they wouldn’t take care of it but here we are.
Essentially you start with hiking the inside of this mountain range and have some amazing peak a boo views in the beginning. Eventually, we take a left and head down into this lower forested area to get to the waterfall…about 2.75 miles in.
The trail is a mix of about everything, from board walk to rock to streams to lengthy mud puddles. So many natural flowers along the way.
I took a chance on a puddle and unfortunately I sunk right in. Some are pretty dense and you stay on top.
This is where we took a left to get to the falls.
We made our way down some stairs cautiously and found the stream, we’re getting close!
Finally, the falls!
The path was blocked by a fallen tree, so we definitely needed to walk up the stream. This part was tricky, and one of my boots ended up filled with water. Thankfully Kaylynn was there to push us all the way because I had about had it with the stream and slippery rocks. I would DEFINITELY take my water shoes next time and changed quickly. Would’ve made a world of difference for this last section.
Now we turn around and climb our way back out. It was helpful to have beautiful views along the way.
Thankful for these ladies to have joined me. I would do this hike again if I gave it some time to dry out. I will also confess that this was a stressful day – Brian left the morning of this hike. His boat was departing later that afternoon and I wanted to go home, shower, and make it to pearl to see. So I was eager to go quickly. I think I’d like to go back under better conditions, with better shoes, and at a slower pace.
