Aliele Falls

Waihee Valley, Hawaii, USA

About Aliele Falls


Hiking Distance: 4 miles round trip
Suggested Time: 1.5-2 hours (Waihe'e Valley Trail)

Date first visited: 2003-09-02
Date last visited: 2003-09-02

Waterfall Latitude: 20.92737
Waterfall Longitude: -156.55101

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Aliele Falls (or ‘Ali’ele Falls) is a 12ft waterfall that had been altered by people who have built a wall over which the falls flow.

I’d imagine without that wall, it probably would’ve just been a cascade that may or may not be noticeable. In any case, we saw some locals use the resultant plunge pool here as a swimming hole.

Waihee_Valley_014_09022003 - Ali'ele Falls
Ali’ele Falls

We were able to get here (back in September 2003) by hiking to the end of the Waihe’e Valley Trail, which was roughly 4 mostly flat miles round trip.

This trail was probably better known as “Swinging Bridges” because it involved crossing at least two such swinging bridges.

We also noticed diversion ditches through tunnels as well as a few waterfalls that we could only hear but couldn’t see.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of natural attractions that have been altered or created by people.

However, the folks swimming at the base of the falls were having fun diving and seeking relief from the heat. So it could be your cup of tea.

Since 2003, I learned that the Waihe’e Valley Trail was recently closed off to public access by Wailuku Agibusiness (now Wailuku Water Company).

In order to do this excursion these days, you need to book with Maui Eco Adventures (who have the necessary permissions to conduct tours here).

Authorities

Aliele Falls resides on the island of Maui, Hawaii. To my knowledge, access to the falls involves crossing through private property. Since I generally don’t keep up with ownership situations, you may have to either go there and read the signs or contact someone beforehand. For information or inquiries about the general area as well as current conditions, you may want to try visiting the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) website.

Waihee_Valley_001_09022003 - The first swinging bridge
Waihee_Valley_003_09022003 - Julie crossing that first swinging bridge
Waihee_Valley_006_09022003 - The second swinging bridge
Waihee_Valley_008_09022003 - Another look at the second swinging bridge
Waihee_Valley_010_09022003 - Pretty overgrown part of the trail
Waihee_Valley_015_09022003 - Finally at the Aliele Falls
Waihee_Valley_018_09022003 - When we looked way in the distance as we were near Ali'ele Falls, we saw Mana-nole Falls deeper into Waihe'e Valley
Waihee_Valley_029_09022003 - Julie walking besides a ditch while we were heading back


The following directions for Aliele Falls were what we took back in 2003. I don’t know if it still applies today.

Go north on Hwy 340 from Wailuku. Turn left (west) from Hwy 340 onto Waihe’e Valley Road (the turn from Hwy 340 is north of the 4-mile post; and immediately south of the Waihe’e River Bridge and the 5-mile post).

Waihe’e Valley Road is narrow, and you will follow it to the T-intersection (just past a No Trespassing sign) and turn right onto a narrow unpaved road (though I heard that recently the road was paved thanks to improvements made by a local farmer here). Follow the narrow road for about 1/4 mile to its end at a small car park with room for about a half-dozen cars.

To provide you with a little context, we generally stay in West Maui in either Lahaina or Ka’anapali. The most straightforward drive from say Lahaina to Wailuku would be to drive south on Hwy 30 and wrap all the way around the south end of West Maui taking a little over a half-hour to go 22.5 miles.

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Tagged with: maui, west maui, kahului, lahaina, kaanapali, hawaii, waterfall, waihee



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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