Hike the Canyon Trail to Waipo'o Falls

Park in the lot that says it's for the Pu'u Hinahina Viewpoint at mile marker 13 - It will be on the right-hand side of the road if you are driving into the Canyon/State Park; left-hand side if you're driving back out. The trailhead for the Canyon Trail is on the opposite side of the parking lot from the bathrooms (not very nice/clean bathrooms here unfortunately, but bathrooms nonetheless). No water or food either.

This trail starts off walking through some bamboo forest, and then after about 5 minutes you start going steeply downhill for about 20 minutes. Save some energy for this on the way back up. This trail is mostly through the forest and it's a lot of steep uphills and downhills so it will require some exertion. After about 0.6mi you will come to an area that looks like a muddy parking lot and you'll see a road leading out of it - Don't go down this road, as it just leads back to another spot on Waimea Canyon Drive (some people start the hike from there instead). Instead, follow the trail which continues to your right. After another couple of minutes, you'll reach a fork. Go to the right (it dead ends so you will come back) for some really nice views of the canyon with railings.

Once you come back to the trail after your brief excursion at the fork, you'll be walking through forest for about another 0.5mi. Then you will get to an area which is exposed and again offers beautiful views of the canyon. The part you are walking on is very wide but be careful near the edge (no railings here). You'll then have to walk downhill and the dirt can be slippery if it's too wet or too dry - Just walk slowly.

You'll re-enter forest and now you're on the last leg of the hike. If you go just a little bit further and climb around/over some large boulders, you'll reach a pool with a small waterfall flowing into it. "Wait a minute!" you'll say, "This waterfall is tiny! I thought I was going to end up at the top of that enormous waterfall!" Well, you are - You just didn't make the right turn. Don't worry, neither did I (and neither did 10 other people who were near us). After looking at the small waterfall (which is the first waterfall you see in my pictures attached to this adventure) for 5 minutes and being disappointed that I'd just done all that hiking for THIS, we started retracing our steps, only to notice a thin, less noticeable dirt trail off to our (now) left, after we climbed back over the boulders. Take this trail and after a couple of minutes, you will come to the real reward and be at the top of Waipo'o Falls. Remember, this little trail will be on your right hand side before you reach the boulders if you're still on the way toward the falls.

This trail is flat through some forest brush and then climbs down some rocks (not suitable for children or for anyone not comfortable climbing and sliding down some rocks near a several hundred foot drop). You'll first see a smaller waterfall pouring into a pool (second waterfall picture above), which then pours off the cliff (third waterfall picture above) and forms the first tier of Waipo'o Falls that you can see from afar. Be very careful here! There isn't much flat ground and there's not much stopping you from going over the edge of these falls if you trip and fall, so make sure your footing is stable and that you're always holding on to something. Some people were walking across the top of the falls but we didn't do this. Some people were also going into the pools for a swim, but don't put your head under or go in if you have any open cuts because leptospirosis sometimes is found in these waterfall pools.

Once you've had your fill of the amazing view of the canyon, turn around and go back the way you came. Remember all those downhills you hiked to get here are now uphills so save some water for the trip back.

Distance: My internet research beforehand told me this was a 3mi trail round trip but my Fitbit said 3.8mi total after I was done, so we're going with 4mi round trip

Total time: 3 hours, including stoppage time for pictures