Muliwai Trail To Waimanu Valley

Hiking from the Waipi’o Valley via the Muliwai Trail to Waimanu Valley
To obtain permits:
HAWAII STATE FORESTRY & WILDLIFE
Island of Hawaii District Office
Dept. of Land & Natural Resources
P. O. Box 4849
(19 E. Kawili Street)
Hilo, HI 96 720
Tel. (808) 974‑4221
A long time ago, as a student I was a reluctant participant in a Chemistry Conference taking place in paradise known as Honolulu, Hawai’i. Since I was going, I was perusing through the AAA travel maps and on the cover I came across a picture of this torturous trail, full of god awful switchbacks going straight up a steep valley wall. It looked like hell but it look like fun. After much searching I found it’s hidden location, The Waipi’o Valley on the North East Shore of the Big Island.
As soon as our plane landed in Oahu, I quickly abandoned all of my colleagues in exchange for some adventure on the near by Big Island. I was running away from my responsibilities and hiking straight into tropical paradise. The Muliwai Trail is 9 miles one way and concludes in the next valley, named Waimanu Valley. I was suppose to hike this with a friend, who at the last minute backed out. It was the first time I hiked solo and I wasn’t going to be denied for any reason but I was still apprehensive.
The view from the ridge of the Waipi’o Valley is «gorge“ous (get it?), the valley is narrow and extremely deep. And everything is green, it looks surreal, like something from the movies. (Waterworld was filmed here)
The hike down into the Waipi’o Valley is a steep paved 4X4 jeep road. The walk is a 1000 ft descent into valley floor where you come upon a picnic area by the beach. The coast is lined with beautiful fine black sand. I’d never seen black sand before, when the waves crashes over it the sand becomes black as shimmering coal and when the water recedes it turns into a charcoal grey color. Absolutely beautiful.
The valley is a mile wide and involves crossing through a waist high river which flows directly into the ocean. On the other side you can see the western wall of the valley and the Muliwai Trail full of switch backs. The climb was slow and arduous and it unexpectedly chewed up a lot more time than I had anticipated. The trail follows the coastal ridge line, an endless series of fingers going inland and outward toward the coast, again and again, it was monotony in the middle of tropical paradise. The half way point is a wooden plywood platform, I suspect it was built for weary hikers to pitch a tent and spend the night. The place was hideous and even though I was dog tired I decided to press on.
As soon as I arrived at the edge of Waimanu Valley, it started to rain and dusk was falling. The descent was covered with huge banana type leaves, not the small puny leaves mind you but the huge wet, slip n slide kinda break your neck type leaves. I shuffled my feet to push the leaves out of the way for the next mile to the valley floor and ended up next to a swift moving creek. There was a warning sign posted, Danger Cryptosporidium. I was tired and didn’t feel like taking off my boots to cross, I thought if I were to quickly bounce off a few of the larger stones I could make it across. My heroic effort failed miserably. It turned into a face planting, body drenching disaster.
As I was making my way to my designated campsite, I came upon two brothers who cheerfully said they did the exact same thing. I think they were humoring me. As it turns out, one of the brothers was studying marine biology and the other one came to visit him from Oregon. He never returned.
I also met a two homeless guys. One claimed to be a former high end chef and couldn’t take the stress of every day life. I know your pain brother, I know your pain! Both were living off the fat of the land, their entire day involved gathering fire wood and food to live on. Apparently there are fruit trees, oranges and lemons aside from the ever present rotting papaya fruit, but I suspect much of the fruit was infested with the hoards of fruit flies found every where. He told me he always goes into Waipi’o Valley taking the beach route at low tide. The distance is a leisurely 3 mile hike on flat sand hugging the rocky coast. It was tempting because my feet were full of blisters from my well worn but ill fitting hiking boots but I decided to do things the hard way. I’d return the same way I came.
The Waimanu Valley is just as beautiful as Waipi’o but even more so because the only access is by foot. The valley is untouched except for a few of the more adventurous hikers. And the beaches are also bounded by beautiful black volcanic sand. I wish I could have explored more of the valley but I had a limited amount of time before heading back to the stress filled rat race. I know your pain, brother!
My experiences here are treasured and I will always remember them for a life time. Hawai’i is truly a Garden of Eden. Heaven on Earth.
Aloha!