This popular moderate trail is 1.4 miles long (one-way) with about a 360 foot elevation change. Overall, it is a very wet muddy trail, so make sure you wear appropriate footwear for the hike. Wearing some sort of shoe that you can go in and out of the water with is good, but it should also be sturdy enough and provide support for hiking. During wet periods, plan to wade through deep mud. During dry periods the hike is easier and less messy, but the trail still has many muddy areas, slippery roots that stick far up with muddy pockets between them, and river crossings. Flash flooding is possible here, so check weather conditions before heading out and don't go on a rainy day.
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| Topographical Map |
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| Graph of Elevation |
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| Trail in Google Earth |
The trail starts at a road with a gate. Head past the gate and turn when you get to the large waterfall sign. Notice the warning sign about the water being infected with Leptospirosis. You should not expose any open wounds to the water or drink it in order to avoid a bacterial infection.
A few signs contain some interesting information about the historical aspects of this trail where it turns to the right here; please be respectful of these as you hike.
When we did this, we soon found that the trail lead into a tangled mess, but there was a go around trail heading down to the dirt road below and then back up again.
Around a third of a mile into the trail, the trail starts to follow the Maunawili Stream. It crosses the stream about 0.7 mile in from the trailhead. You will also see old ranching walls and stone roads through this section.
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| Maunawili Stream |
The trail has a number of areas that are made rough and uneven by windy roots. And sometimes you may have to duck under tree branches.
As you continue there will be more and more of a climb with some stairs built in along the trail. Make sure you stay on the stairs and on the trail to help prevent further erosion and destruction of the area. After the final set of stairs you will reach a section of the trail with some nice views of the Koolau mountain range. After going up this hill, the trail soon descends back down to stream and the waterfall. Especially since we went during a dry spell, found that the trail seems to get more significantly more muddy and worn as we approached the falls. We decided this was due to people leaving the falls and the stream after getting very wet and then dripping water all over the trail.
Again, there are some very rough sections with windy roots protruding up above mud puddles.
You will have to cross the stream once again at the bottom of the hill to continue to the falls.
Hikers will continue to go in and out of the stream some to get to the falls. If you are still enough, little fish in the area will come nibble at your toes. Once at the falls, many people swim across the deep pool below the falls, climb up the side of the falls and jump. The water is pretty chilly, but it is a good jumping spot. There are some higher ones too, but use caution so that you don't get hurt hitting the bottom of the pool. Jump at your own risk and don't dive from the high jumps. There have been lots of injuries from people's attempts to jump into this pool.
If you opt to swim across the pool, you can also continue a little ways up past this first waterfall and find a smaller but very scenic second falls behind it. Because we had to swim to get up there, we opted to not take the GPS with us, but it isn't far.
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| Second little waterfall past the first one |
There are no restrooms at the trailhead for this trail or along the way. It is also advisable to wear bug repellent while doing this trail.
Directions
This trail is located on Oahu, HI. To get there, take Pali Highway/Hwy 61 to Auloa Road. If you are coming from Honolulu, this will be after the tunnel. Continue straight and this road will become Maunawili Rd. Continue to stay on this road to its end where it intersects with Kelewina St. This is where the hike starts. You can park in the neighborhood here; just remember it can get crowded at times. GPS Coordinates: N21 21.547 W157 45.814
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