See a stunning waterfall and brilliantly beautiful natural scenes while walking comfortably on a smooth path? Yes please. A visit to ‘Akaka Falls [875 Akaka Falls Road, Honomu, HI 96728] is what I call a seriously fancy nature walk. Even though we’re fancy, we don’t want to break the bank. You will have to pay up $1 to enter, but that’s totally worth it. What you want to skip is the $5 parking fee.
You see that yellow gate pictured at the entrance of the parking lot? Just park right outside of that gate and you can skip the parking fee. Yes, literally, five feet away from the paid lot, is free parking. It is completely legal, you can even ask the attendant if one is present like I did because I couldn’t believe it myself. Believe it you must! Just make sure you’re not blocking the gate and you are inside the white line. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s head in. The view from the lot is lovely to begin with!
You can see ‘Akaka out there in the distance. Informational plaques and a map are at the trailhead.
The trail is a paved loop, about a half mile, and absolutely gorgeous the whole way round. It’s nice to take paved trails sometimes because you don’t have to worry about stumbling over rocks and roots. You can take your time and really observe the flora, and save up your energy for more activities later in the day! By the way, that flora is phenomenal!
Exotic flowers coming up from the ground, wrapping around and hanging down from trees, oh and the trees! Everything here is just pretty. We haven’t even gotten to the main attraction yet! Well, the loop is relatively short, so you’ll get there in no time. The view of ‘Akaka Falls is beyond majestic.
The powerful 442 feet of free falling forceful water is truly an awe inspiring sight, so very pure and pristine. Definitely worth the $1, wouldn’t you say? Completing the loop we were dazzled by many other waterfalls, including the little spur off to the semi hidden, but fearsome 300 ft Kahuna Falls.
If you are staying in Hilo you must make the short journey up to see the falls. We decided to make the detour heading up past Hilo and towards the northern end of the island on the way to Waipi’o Valley. When you leave be sure to check out the fruit stand on the side of the road.
We took some silly pictures, saw peacocks, supported a local farmer, and got some fresh pineapple and coconut for the next few days! A cherry on top to a lovely morning visiting ‘Akaka Falls.