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Maui Trails

Pipiwai Trail

A giant banyan, a creaking bamboo cathedral, and a 400-foot waterfall at the end — the best four miles on the Road to Hana, and maybe on Maui.

Type Out-and-back through national park rainforestBest for Bamboo forest, Waimoku FallsFrom the bungalows About 2.5 hours via the Road to Hana
Christoph Strässler / CC BY-SA 2.0
TypeOut-and-back through national park rainforest
Best forBamboo forest, Waimoku Falls
From the bungalowsAbout 2.5 hours via the Road to Hana
DistanceAbout 4 miles round trip
DifficultyModerate — steady climb, roots and boardwalks
CostPark entry $30/vehicle, good 3 days

If you only do one hike on your Hana day, it is this one. The Pipiwai Trail climbs a gentle two miles through country that keeps changing the channel — a banyan the size of a building, overlooks into a waterfall-cut gorge, then a bamboo forest so dense it turns the light green — and ends at the base of 400-foot Waimoku Falls.

The trail, act by act

The path leaves the Kipahulu Visitor Center lot and climbs steadily on roots and worn lava. Half a mile in, the Makahiku Falls overlook gives you a 185-foot preview down into the gorge. Just past it, the famous banyan tree spreads over the trail like a small forest pretending to be one tree.

Then comes the part everyone remembers: the bamboo. Boardwalks carry you through acres of it, stalks thick as your arm and sixty feet tall, and when the trade winds push through, the whole grove knocks and groans like a ship under sail. It is one of the strangest, loveliest sounds in Hawai’i.

The bamboo opens abruptly to the amphitheater at the end: Waimoku Falls, four hundred feet of white water down a sheer, moss-black lava wall. Stay back from the base — rocks come down that wall regularly, which is why the park asks you not to stand under or swim beneath it.

The bamboo forest — when the wind moves, the whole grove knocks and creaks like riggingPhoto: Aaron Zhu / CC BY-SA 3.0

Fees, rules and the pools question

Pipiwai is inside the Kipahulu district of Haleakala National Park, so the standard $30-per-vehicle entrance fee applies — and here is the tip most visitors miss: the pass is good for three days at BOTH districts. Do Hana on Tuesday and the summit sunrise on Thursday on one fee.

The famous Pools of Ohe'o — the so-called Seven Sacred Pools — are just below the trailhead, but swimming there is closed due to flash-flood and rockfall danger. Plan on admiring them from the Kuloa Point loop rather than getting in.

The same water logic applies on the trail itself: the final approach to Waimoku crosses the streambed, and East Maui streams can rise in minutes from rain falling miles uphill that you cannot see. If the water is high or the sky upstream is dark, the waterfall you can see from fifty yards back is plenty.

The final approach crosses the streambed — turn around here when the water runs highPhoto: Thomas James Caldwell / CC BY-SA 2.0

Making it work from the south shore

From Kihei the Kipahulu trailhead is a serious drive — about two and a half hours each way, the last stretch on the winding road past Hana town. Leave by seven, hike Pipiwai first while your legs are fresh, then graze the food stands and beaches on the drive back. Our Road to Hana guide maps the day hour by hour.

The parking lot at the Kipahulu Visitor Center is generous by Hana standards, with restrooms and water fountains — top off your bottles here. Count on two to three unhurried hours for the four miles, more if you photograph everything (you will).

If you would rather not do it all in one day, that is wisdom, not weakness: overnighting in Hana turns the best day trip on Maui into the best two days, with Waianapanapa's black sand at golden hour as your reward.

Good to know

  • The $30 park pass covers BOTH districts for 3 days — save the receipt for your summit day.
  • Hike it first thing on your Hana day; the lot and the boardwalks jam by late morning.
  • The bamboo boardwalks are slick when wet — roots and boards both.
  • Do not swim under Waimoku Falls; rockfall off that wall is real and regular.
  • Watch the sky upstream — East Maui streams flash-flood from rain you cannot see.
  • Bug spray earns its keep in the lower forest sections.

Questions

Pipiwai Trail FAQ

About four miles round trip with roughly 650 feet of gain, taking most hikers two to three hours. The grade is gentle but constant, over roots, worn lava and boardwalks — comfortable for most fitness levels with decent shoes.

It sits inside Haleakala National Park's Kipahulu district, so the $30-per-vehicle park entrance fee applies. The pass is valid three days at both the Kipahulu and summit districts — one fee can cover this hike and your sunrise trip.

No on both. The park closed swimming under Waimoku Falls because of rockfall, and the Pools of Ohe'o below the trailhead are closed to entry due to flash-flood and rockfall danger. Both are still spectacular to see — from the viewpoints.

It is the single most atmospheric stretch of trail on Maui — a green tunnel of sixty-foot bamboo that creaks and knocks in the wind. Combined with the banyan tree and the 400-foot falls at the end, it is the best short hike on the island — and we do not say that lightly.

Keep exploring

Parks

Oheo Gulch
Parks

Waianapanapa State Park
Parks

Haleakala National Park
Trails

Twin Falls
Trails

Sliding Sands Trail
Beaches

Ho’okipa Beach Park

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