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Trip 3

Waiilikahi Falls

Distance: 2¼ miles

Elevation gain: 200 feet

Hiking time: 2⅔ hours

Topos: Honokane 7½

Difficulty: Moderate, hiking boots mandatory

Highlights: Waterfalls are enchanting! Too often, Hawaiian waterfalls are inaccessible unless you can afford a helicopter flight—and even then, you can only look but not touch. One of Waimanu Valley’s thundering waterfalls is accessible on foot—with a little patience and navigating skill.

(Of course, for viewing it, rather than splashing in it, this waterfall, like waterfalls anywhere, is much more impressive when seen at a distance, where its long, silky white plumes of water are fully revealed to our admiring eyes. In other words, the best view of this waterfall is not from its base but from the ford of Waimanu Stream.)

Warning: Wild pigs live in Waimanu Valley, and you may encounter one on your way to these falls, as I did. It’s reported that wild pigs can be dangerous if they are surprised and are unable to find a safe escape route. Make some noise as you go to warn the pigs to get away. (I whack the shrubbery and rocks with my hiking stick.)

Driving instructions: Not applicable.

Permit/permission required: Dayhiking into Waimanu does not require permission. Camping in Waimanu is very strictly regulated by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife; you must have a permit from them and may camp only at the site assigned to you.

Description: Waiilikahi Falls in Waimanu Valley is accessible if you’re patient and look carefully for tags—colored plastic ribbon tied to trees or shrubs—and follow them on this route. There is no trail—not even a beaten path.

Start as if you were heading for the drinking-water source described in Trip 2: on the west side of the valley along a muddy track from the end of the beach back into the valley to a running stream. Continue, generally south, beyond the water source, by following the tags. You cross several dry waterways right after the spring-fed courses. Your route is in the rainforest, and it’s very circuitous, though you generally stick to the valley’s west wall. You pass a number of ruins—the fine stone walls so typical of Hawaii before European contact. You weave through guava, kukui, and coffee, trying to avoid falling into ponds. A difficult section early in the hike forces you to climb slippery rocks and tree roots up and around a large pond.

About halfway, the route is apparently hacked through a hau thicket. Conflicting, confusing tags may have you wondering which way to go. I found that the route that ran closer to the edges of the hau thicket connected better with the rest of the route.

A waterfall in Waimanu Valley

You finally stumble upon a third, “wet” watercourse—possibly marked by a metal rod painted red and white. Turn upstream along this third “wet” watercourse without crossing it (if that is how the tags still direct you). With the help of the tags, you’ll soon pick your way through drenching spray to the base of the fall, where the pool is said to be swimmable. The din of falling water is deafening, and the fog of spray may conceal the true size of this waterfall. There’s plenty of broken rock around the pool. Beware of falling rocks at this or any other waterfall!

Waterfalls at work

In Hawaii, the terrain tends to consist of alternating layers of resistant lava and less-resistant material such as consolidated ash or clinker. A stream wears down through the softer layer and cascades over the harder layer. The force of the falling water wears away the rock at the base of the falls, forming a lovely pool. Undercut by that process, the rock above the pool succumbs to gravity and falls away, shattering at the base of the falls. This process wears the stream’s channel farther and farther back into the slope. Over eons, the stream cuts its gorge back toward its headwaters. Because harder and softer layers alternate, streams often form a chain of waterfalls on their long descent to the sea.