Location: Southeast Maui

The Pipiwai Trail, above the Oheo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools), is one of the best hikes on Maui. Pipiwai Trail is 4 miles roundtrip, gaining 650-feet in elevation. It takes 2 1/2 - 5 hours to hike, depending on how much nature loving you do. There are several great waterfalls along the route with the final destination fall being Waimoku Falls, falling 400-feet down a sheer lava rock wall shaped like a horse shoe. If it's been wet in the area recently, you can additionally find yourself surrounded by numerous small waterfalls on the surrounding cliff face. This is an absolutely beautiful falls and well worth the hike to get to it.

The Waimoku Falls hike passes the 185 foot Makahiku Falls (which is also beautiful). Basically, the hike to Waimoku is the Makahiku hike extended about 1 1/2 miles. At one mile you will enter the first of three bamboo forests. Because of the marshy ground, wooden boardwalks have been built to make hiking easier.

Location: Northwest Maui

Have you ever wanted to stand at the top of a mountain in utter silence and commune with the clouds? That is exactly what you’ll be able to do on the Waihee Ridge Trail. The 5-mile round trip trail ascends 1,500 feet through a lush forest of kukui, guava, ohi’a, and ferns. The earlier you start the trail the better chance you have of viewing the Waihee Valley without clouds. When you arrive at the trailhead it may not seem like much of a trail. You have to pass through a cattle-proof gate and up a 200-ft cement road that is far steeper than it looks.

Location: Southeast Maui

A half-mile easy loop trail leads from the Kipahulu Visitor Center down to the ocean at Kuloa Point past historic walls and pre-contact Hawaiian habitation sites. The trail passes a grove of hala trees on the way to beautiful views of the ocean and several large pools.

Swimming is permitted when conditions allow it. Never jump into the water from the cliffs above. Also, the ocean currents at Kuloa Point are very strong and sharks and high surf are constant dangers. Do not go into the ocean here, stay in the pools above if you swim.

Location: Northeast Maui

A little over half-mile past mile marker 9 on the Hana Highway keep your eyes open for the parking lot (mauka) to the Waikamoi Ridge Forest Trail and Overlook. It is easy to miss due to the fact it’s around a bend in the road. After parking in the often crowded lot, head up to the open area to your left to a small overlook with picnic shelters and the Waikamoi trail head.

The Waikamoi Trail is a beautiful, short nature walk through trees, bamboo and ferns with scenic overlooks at various points along the way. There are actually two sections to the trail: one being a short loop that takes about half an hour and ends where it starts (at the picnic area) and the other a one-way extension from the loop trail. Both trails start at the picnic shelter located near the parking area.

Location: Northeast Maui

This 3 mile trail follows the coastline from just north of Hana Bay to beyond Waianapanapa State Park. The trail begins in Kainalimu Bay and follows the jagged lava coastline along the Hawaiian "King's Highway." This trail is still visible in places where smooth stepping stones were set into the rough lava and cinders.

The coastline is ruggedly scenic with black lava jutting into the deep blue ocean. Looking inland one will get a sweeping view of Hana Forest Reserve with its densely vegetated cinder cones. About 2.0 miles down the coast lies Wai'anapanapa State Park. Here there are 12 cabins for rental, picnic tables, showers, and restroom facilities.

Location: Upcountry Maui and Haleakala

The summit area of Haleakala National Park has over 30 miles (48 km) of hiking trails. Trails range from just 10 minutes to long overnight trips. You might hike in the native shrubland, looking for native forest birds and endemic plants, or in the aeolian cinder desert, exploring the geologic history of the summit. Here are a few of the highlights.

Pa Kaoao Trail
This short trail (less than .5 mile round trip) leads to the top of Pa Kaoao, a small cinder cone. The trail offers one of the highest vantage points in the park and gives spectacular views of the wilderness of the volcano. Stone shelters built by the early Hawaiians that explored Haleakala long ago are still visible from the trail. The trail starts just outside of the House of the Sun Visitor Center at 9,740 feet.

Location: Upcountry Maui and Haleakala

This trail is definitely not an easy hike, but it does come highly recommended as a good, if not the best, hike for the Haleakala summit area. The extremely strenuous trail descends 2,800 feet in the first 4 miles to the valley floor. The Keoneheehee (Sliding Sands) Trail starts at the bulletin board by the entrance to the Haleakala Visitor Center parking lot. For a good half-day (and yet still moderately strenuous) hike, we recommend the first 2.5 miles of the trail to the Ka Lu‘u o ka O‘o cinder cone before turning around and taking the trail back out. The round trip is a 5-mile trek, and given the elevation, it’ll feel like it’s longer. The final climb back up Haleakala’s Crater Rim will also be more than enough hike for one day.

Location: Upcountry Maui and Haleakala

This 1.6 mile trail starts above Polipoli Springs State Park on the skyline switchback at 6,550 feet elevation and works down the crest of the southwest rift of Haleakala past the Plum Trail junction to the lower forest reserve boundary at 5,600 feet elevation. Much of this trail is not forested and there are many spectacular views in all directions.

Location: Upcountry Maui and Haleakala

At approximately mile marker 18.7 on Highway 378, turn left onto a short road and drive to the parking area. The rim overlook, at 9,324 feet, provides another superb view of the crater floor. At one time, Haleakala likely resembled Mauna Loa on the Big Island with its pointed top. But as Haleakala’s eruptions diminished and erosion in the early valleys of Keanae (Ko‘olau Gap) on the north and Kaupo (on the south) began, they nearly almost merged together near the volcano’s summit, splitting Haleakala in two.

Location: Southeast Maui

This hike is located near the Oheo Gulch which is about 15 minutes past Hana, near mile marker 42. The Kahakai Trail stretches a quarter-mile between Kuloa Point and the Kipahulu campground near the 'Ohe'o Gulch. Shoreline views along the ocean are beautiful, but be mindful of your step. Of the three trails in the area, this is the one to skip, but given it’s so short you might as well enjoy it while here. The parking lot is on the makai side of the road. Admission is $10 and you can find out more information from the ranger.