Waipo'o Falls

Waipo'o Falls Hike

This was on the to do list. I asked Baron about this hike, he said that I couldn't get to the base of the waterfall. He was right. But this hike does take you to a small waterfall at the top of Waipo'o Falls. There is a Canyon Lookout where you can see Waipo'o Falls. The waterfall is said to be 800 feet. The hike starts on the Westside of the Canyon rim and traverses to the Eastside to the waterfall. It looks dangerous, but its not.

Driving to the trail head is an adventure especially coming from Wailua. It took us almost 2 hours to get to the trailhead. It takes an hour to get to Waimea and then another hour to get to the Pu'u Hina'aina lookout. The Waimea Canyon trail starts to the left of the parking lot.

I was worried that the kids couldn't handle. It said moderate hike, so I knew it was going to be a walk in the park for them.

A handful of people were starting right in front of us. We hiked at a fast pace. Although Michelle lagged behind, she wasn't too far behind. I was scared for the kids safety on the declines, but they handled it like it was nothing. In about 45 minutes through forest covered strawberry guava, until we hit what I call the East side of the Canyon. The sheer drops were amazing, nothing I seen before. There were also these monoliths rock structures which were cool looking. The view here was actually a great experience.

We drove right back into the forest and could hear running water, what I assumed was the stream feeding the massive 800 foot waterfall. People were there, but not much. When we got there they left, leaving the little waterfall all to ourselves. I immediately took off my shirt and swam to the little waterfall. The water was so cold, that I couldn't breathe, my body was in shock. I sucked it up and got to the waterfall. I couldn't boulder the section too well and so wasn't able to take a shower under the waterfall. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience. I ask Malia to swim out, but she was too cold. We stayed at the swimming hole for about 1/2 hour as tourist came and went. We ate a sandwich, the one we bought at the Salt Pond General Store.

Going back was harder because we had to go up a lot of the way But we did it in 1 hour, so it wasn't too bad. Since we were at the lookout, I wanted to see Ni'ihau, but it was socked in and only a white cloud was the view. What fun! But more to come. We hopped in the Elantra and headed toward the Kalalau Lookout.