Upper Waikani Falls (Maui, Hawaii, USA)

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Upper Waikani Falls ("The Three Bears Falls")

Upper Waikani Falls in low flow looking like the

Upper Waikani Falls is one of the more famous waterfalls on the Hana Highway. Affectionately dubbed the "Three Bears Falls," we believe this is one of the few waterfalls where less is more. That's because when the falls are in the "Three Bears" mode, we could see three parallel cascades with successively lower heights from left to right (just like papa bear, mama bear, and baby bear, so to speak). However, we also saw this falls in high flow, and in that configuration, the three bears become one giant bear. I believe the feast or famine state of the waterfall might have more to do with irrigation ditches further upstream to feed the thirsty sugar cane crops in Central Maui.

Our first couple of visits to the falls were basically from a roadside pullout, which was real easy to spot since you can't miss it from the road heading towards Hana. However, on our third visit here, we finally figured out a "fairly" tolerable route to scramble beneath the Hana Highway bridge and continue on a use trail right to the pool before the falls.

The makai side of the bridge The key for us was to look for a way to scramble on the makai side. The mauka side looked slippery and risky going down (but it was a decent shortcut on the way back up since it's easier for me to climb than go down when scrambling). There was a slab of concrete underneath the side of the road so I was able to descend without my feet ever being left in the air (and having to take that leap of faith from which you might never come back up again). I don't know if that concrete slab would still be there over time though.

Directions: Like I mentioned earlier, Upper Waikani Falls is difficult to miss. About 0.3 miles past the 19-mile post, Hana Hwy winds towards a gully and bridge and the falls will be directly in front of you. Sometimes you have to wait your turn to park in the pullout near the Waikani Stream bridge (I believe we did that the first time, and there was definitely a traffic jam in back of us).

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The start of the scramble to the base of the falls. Look carefully at the rocks and slabs on the ground. Those help reduce the height of that first step!

Upper Waikani Falls in high flow looking like a big fat bear

Closer look near the base of Waikani Falls Closer look at the falls in high flow

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