The Pipiwai Trail in the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park is one of my favorite hikes in Hawaii. 

Dramatic bamboo forest + 400-ft tall waterfall = must do. 

The four mile round trip hike takes about 2 hours, and even if you’re not an avid hiker, it’s 100% worth the effort. 

Pipiwai Trail on the Road to Hana

The Pipiwai Trail is the showpiece hike on Maui’s famous Road to Hana. It’s something you need to plan your day around because 1) it’s easily the best hike on the Road to Hana, and 2) it’s at the very end of the Road and if you don’t keep track of time and pace yourself, you may run out of time for the hike once you get here. 

The Pipiwai Trail is located in the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park about 10 miles past Hana town (about a 30 minute drive).

Note that this is a separate entrance from the summit of Haleakala National Park (where people go for sunrise and sunset at the crater) and the two areas are NOT connected, but if you pay the entrance fee ($30/vehicle), your receipt is good at BOTH locations for three days. 

Kipahulu is home to two of the most popular stops on the Road to Hana: Oheo Gulch (the Seven Sacred Pools) and the Pipiwai Trail. 

More about the Oheo Gulch in a bit, but here’s what you need to know about hiking the Pipiwai Trail:

The Pipiwai Trail is a four mile round trip hike that takes you through Hana’s famed bamboo forest and ends at the spectacular 400 foot Waimoku Falls. 

Yes, you’ll pass all those cute drive by waterfalls along the Road to Hana, but they’re nothing compared to this bad boy. 

It’s not a particularly difficult trail (it’s super well maintained), and there’s not much elevation gain, but it’s usually pretty humid so it can feel challenging. 

The hike itself probably takes about 2 hours if you’re not stopping too much, (but plan at least 3 hours in the park in general and maybe more if you’re going to hike down to the Oheo pools). 

Once you’ve come to the falls, you’ll reach a point on the trail where there’s a sign posted not to go any closer. In the past, a lot of people used to go past it right down to the bottom of the falls, but the last time I hiked it (August 2024) the trail was completely overgrown. 

And these falls break over rocks so there’s not a pool to see or swim in anyways. 

This trail is a truly stunning experience and if you are at all able bodied, I 100% recommend that you put forth the effort to do this hike. 

But remember, it takes good time management on your Road to Hana day to make sure that you’ll make it all the way to the National Park and have time for the hike. 

Oheo Gulch

Famously known as the Seven Sacred Pools, these cascading pools go all the way to the ocean and became famous as a spot to swim. But they haven’t actually allowed swimming in the pools for years for various reasons. If this is a big thing on your bucket list, check the conditions before you go. They’re still really cool to see even when you can’t swim and the trail from the parking lot is about half a mile round trip, but I think the best view is from the bridge above them. 

Bold statement here…if you’re not going to hike the Pipiwai Trail, I’m not sure I’d spend the time driving out (10 miles/35 minutes past Hana) just to see the pools. If you’ve got plenty of time, give it a go, but remember it costs $30/car and if you’re going to reverse course and drive back through Hana anyways, it adds quite a bit of time to the day.

P.S. I travel to Hawaii multiple times a year, and let me tell you a secret…I do most of it for FREE using credit card points and miles. 

I have a somewhat intricate system that I’ve fine tuned over the years to maximize earning points and how I cash them in, but the short version is:

I use THIS Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card for free Marriott nights. The sign up bonus alone on this card will get you 3 (sometimes 5!) free nights at hotels in Hawaii like the Sheraton Maui, Royal Hawaiian (Oahu), Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort, and the Waikoloa Beach Marriott (Kona). 

And I use THIS Southwest Premier Rapid Rewards card for free flights on Southwest. The sign up bonus will get you at least one round trip flight to Hawaii (possibly two depending on where you’re flying from). 

The combo of these two cards will have you most of the way to a free trip to Hawaii right out of the gate. Again, you can sign up for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless >> HERE and the Southwest Premier Rapid Rewards >> HERE
And if you’re really serious about getting into the travel hacking game, read this post for a more in depth look at how I maximize credit card points to book travel.