About Maunawili Falls
Maunawili Falls is a small but picturesque and popular 15-30ft.
We figure it’s popular because it’s publicly accessible and because it has a nice swimming hole that’s deep enough even for some daredevils to do a dangerous cliff dive into the pool.
But its popularity belies the fact that we did have to do a bit of a hike involving several stream crossings and one head-scratching moment at the last stream crossing.
And fortunately for us, there were enough people on the trail that we were able to get around some of the confusing parts just by following some locals who knew where they were going.
Hiking to Maunawili Falls
The hike started in a residential area in the town of Maunawili.
From there, we hiked about two miles to the falls crossing over four streams en route.
We were wearing Keens so the stream crossings weren’t really a problem.
However, we were mindful that open cuts and wounds did have the potential for introducing the leptospirosis bacteria (good thing we didn’t have any such wounds on this excursion).
We want to point out a couple of key points in the otherwise straightforward hike.
At about a half-mile beyond the third stream crossing, the trail climbed up some steps eventually reaching a bench at an unsigned fork in the trail.
We had to turn left at this fork to descend the short (maybe about 100ft) steep series of steps back down to the Maunawili Stream.
There was actually another unnamed stream joining the main stream, and it was here that we had to make the fourth and longest stream crossing.
Here, we made the mistake of taking the faint trail on the right and eventually ended up in a muddy bog.
When we figured out that we should’ve crossed the stream and head towards the right bank (left fork), that was when we started to pick up the last 0.1-mile of the trail to its end at the Maunawili Falls.
All told, it took us about an hour of hiking in each direction.
Twisted Mountain
Upon doing some post-trip reading, I learned that “Maunawili” means “twisted mountain.”
I’m only speculating here, but perhaps it’s because the falls was mostly hidden as it twisted and tumbled its way down a rocky slope before making its final drop.
That final drop was the lone visible drop from what we could tell.
There were also scenic fluted cliffs (part of the Ko’olau Range) providing a good scenic backdrop for photographs when we reached the apex of the hike.
However, I’m not sure if the twisted mountain had anything to do with these pali (cliffs).
Authorities
Maunawili Falls resides on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. As far as I know, it is not administered by any official authority. 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.
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Beware Leptospirosis (Maunawili Falls) May 14, 2015 4:52 pm - Leptospirosis has been found in these waters. Educate yourself before swimming there. ...Read MoreVisitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
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