Visiting This One Place In Hawaii Is Like Experiencing A Dream
By Megan Shute|Published April 15, 2016
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Located in southeast Maui, off Hana Highway and near the Pools of Oheo, is the unforgettable Pipiwai Trail, a four-mile round trip trek that will take you on quite the enchanting journey through a lush Hawaiian tropical rainforest to four absolutely incredible natural wonders.
If you’re looking for the ultimate Hawaiian hike with some of the best views that Maui has to offer, all within a short, well-maintained trail managed by the National Parks System, look no further than Pipiwai Trail.
While walking along the trail, the first beauty you will come into contact with is this massive banyan tree, a magnificent wonder that looks as though it has been materialized right from the pages of a fairytale.
Next, just a half-mile from the trailhead, you will arrive at the stunning 180-foot Makahiku Falls, perhaps one of the island’s most captivating waterfalls. The water cascades over a verdant cliff covered with bamboo and prehistoric-looking ferns, into the postcard-worthy rainforest.
And the last of our four wonders to experience is the jaw-dropping Waimoku Falls, the crowned jewel of Maui waterfalls, plummeting 440 feet down a sheer lava rock and into a boulder-strewn pool.
Don’t get caught up with these four wonders, though – the entire trail is full of enchanting spots and beauty to behold, from moss-covered rocks to vibrant flowers.
This beautiful infinity pool was once a magnificent side-trek, but after a major accident and guidebooks that do not properly educate tourists about the danger of this area, a fence was put up, and it is now considered trespassing.
The hike gains only about 600 feet in elevation, and will take you between two and four hours, depending on how long you choose to linger. While you won’t have the trail to yourself – approximately half a million people hike this trail each year – it is far too dreamy of a location to pass up while on Maui.
