Waipi’o Valley Address: 48-5561A Waipi’o Valley Rd. Honokaa, HI 96727

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I wanted to share with you a MUST DO activity on the big Island of Hawaii and that is the Waipi’o Valley hike.  It is amazing! I want to tell you a little about my experience with my husband there and why we really hope you get a chance to do this hike if you go to the Big Island of Hawaii. 

First of all, one thing that you should be aware of is that is probably a little big of a drive from where you are staying. Most people tend to stay in Hilo if you’re going to see the volcanoes and the waterfalls or stay in Kona on the west side of the island  where it’s really sunny.  As you can see from the map, that’s pretty far either of those locations. 

MapQuest puts Hilo at 1hr and 14 minutes from the Waipi’o Valley and Kona at 1hr and 25 minutes from the Waipi’o Valley, so make sure you plan for that. 

I would definitely argue that it’s worth the drive, but make sure you start early enough so that you are not rushing at the end.  My husband and I wished we had started our drive earlier so that we could have gotten to the Waipi’o Valley earlier in the day and have had more time to spend down at the bottom of the valley before having to hike back out.

One of the nearest big towns to the Waipi’o Valley is Waimea which is about 33 minutes away.  Waimea is a cute little  cattle-ranching town with a small-town feel. It’s a great place to stop and grab food and gas.  

Should I Do the Hike or Just Go to the Lookout Point?

At the top of the Waipio Valley there is a lookout point and my husband and I noticed that a lot of people where just driving up to the lookout point, parking in the parking lot, and just doing the lookout point- taking some selfies and then leaving.

While the lookout is beautiful, they were missing out on so much.  The hike leads you down to the water, and IT IS INCREDIBLE! It is one of the best hikes I have ever done in my entire life, so I definitely recommend it. Again, the view from the lookout is beautiful, but you are definitely missing this magical experience that you could have had if you had done the hike. 

If that wasn’t enough to convince you, here’s a little more about he hike. On the hike you’ll see a waterfall, a mountain valley, a river meeting up with the ocean, and if that wasn’t enough how about adding in some wild horses and a black-sand beach.  I hope that’s enough to convince you that this is an amazing experience that you should do. 

The Hike

Rated: Moderate Difficulty 4.7 miles

I would say that rating should come with a caveat.  Once you get down to the bottom of the Valley, all the hike is flat.  It’s on a flat road. The entire hike is on a road in fact.  The first part of the hike is along a paved road, and the second part is along a unpaved road.  BE FOREWARNED, the first part of the hike is probably one of the  steepest hikes you will ever do.  You are hiking down a paved road, but there are points where it is at a 25% grade.  If you don’t know what that looks like, just imagine dropping your water bottle and having it roll on and on forever.  A 25% grade is comically steep.  Because of the steepness, this hike is actually difficult going down as well as coming up, so for those like me who are not as fit as some, I took my time and took lots of breaks. I took my time.  Every little bit going up, you have a different vantage points where you want to stop and get pictures, so it really does pay to take it slowly. 

The good news is the vertical part of the hike is only about 1 mile, so really it is a mile of vertical, and then the rest of the hike is flat ground.  So while you’re on the vertical part of the hike, the hike feels very intense, but that level of intensity doesn’t last for too long. 

My husband and I were not necessarily planning on doing the hike the day we went because we had heard that the Waip’o Valley can get really flooded if it rains and it can become unsafe down there.  It was raining lightly the day we were going there, so I had figured we were not going to do the hike.  (That’s why we didn’t get there earlier in the day.)  When we got there though, we saw other people were coming up from the hike and the park ranger there didn’t seem like we should be concerned about hiking down to the valley.  The hike was perfectly safe, but boy was it muddy down in the valley because of the rain.  When you got down to the flat, unpaved portions of the road it was DEFINTELY MUDDY and there were these ginormous puddles.  Down the flat road, only four-wheel vehicles can drive and the puddles in the picture next to my husband were coming halfway up the tires on these big, lifted trucks and 4-wheel drive vehicles.  You can drive down to the valley if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, but I wouldn’t have wanted to drive on that steep of a road.  I would have felt unsafe driving down it, but if that is something you are comfortable doing, and you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, that is a potential option for you. 

What Should You Bring?

Water-You should definitely bring water because there is on water available down in the valley. 

Sack lunch– I would recommend starting the hike earlier in the day and taking a sack lunch with you so that you can sit down on the black-sand beach and each your lunch and enjoy the scenery down there for longer.  There’s no  food available down there, so anything you want to eat, you’ll need to bring with you. 

Camera– Make sure to bring your camera.  It is incredibly beautiful down there and you don’t want to miss being able to take those views back home with you. 

Hiking Boots or Shoes with Good Traction– It can be very mudding down at the bottom and the vertical part of the hike is very steep and you’ll want a sure footing.  Even though the vertical part of the hike is on a paved road, if it is even the slightest bit wet (and this is Hawaii- it rains all the time) it can be a bit slippery.  I had worn tennis shoes, and I really had wished that I had worn hiking boots instead.  It’s not a must do.  I saw a lady hiking down with a beer and in flip-flops.  I would not recommend that course of action, but I did see that happening and she seemed to be okay. 

Rain Jacket- It’s Hawaii.  It rains often.  If you have your rain jacket, who cares if it is drizzling a little bit at some point. 

Good News about Toilets- The good news is that there are actually outhouses down by the beach, so there is actually a place to go to the bathroom with was nice. 

Not Able to Do the Hike Physically?

If you are not able to do the hike physically, there are tour companies that will drive you down there for a fee, and I would recommend doing that if you’re not able to do the hike.