Hiking the Waimea Falls Trail on Oʻahu’s North Shore
Distance (Roundtrip): 1.9 miles / 4.0 km
The distance above may vary depending on how many of the side gardens you decide to walk through.
Overall, the Waimea Valley Arboretum Trail is one of the easiest hikes on Oʻahu. It’s easier than Mānoa Falls, Diamond Head (Lēʻahi), and the Makapuʻu Lighthouse Trail, which are all very popular trails among visitors.
However, since the Waimea Valley Trail is so easy, it’s also very popular, and I recommend that you get there the first thing in the morning so that you can enjoy the waterfall and trail without the crowds.
Waimea Valley Arboretum Parking
Parking for the Waimea Falls Trail is off to the side of the visitor center or in the lot just prior if the closer parking lot is full.
Parking in Waimea Valley for Waimea Bay Beach Park is not free, unlike when you are visiting the Arboretum Trail.
Google Maps Directions: Waimea Valley Arboretum
Hiking the Waimea Falls Trail
Waimea Valley is a beautiful collection of native Hawaiian plants and plants from around the world. I highly encourage you to venture off of the main path that you see on the map below in red because there are so many beautiful paths through the gardens on the side. Know that as long as you are head further into the valley, you are you are getting closer to the waterfall.
The majority of the time we walked through the side gardens and saw far less people doing so. This is what a few of the photos below are showing.
Waimea Valley Entrance Fee
Entering Waimea Valley is a paid experience as the entire valley is private property. Don’t forget your IDs if you are senior citizen, student, military, or some other category as there are discounts available.
The photo below is the main path, and it’s the fastest route to reach the waterfall. It’s not a bad strategy to hike straight through the valley to the waterfall in order to enjoy it with less people. This way you can walk slower through the gardens on the way back.
The photo below not the main trail but a side trail on the right side of the valley after one of the Hawaiian sections. It was nice to have this stretch without other people.
Hawaiian Games
There is an area right off of the main trail where you can follow the posted instructions to play a few different traditional Hawaiian games. It can be really fun with two or more people.
Waimea Falls
This photo of the waterfall was taken at around 10 a.m., but if you arrived right when the valley opened, I have no doubt that you would beat most of the visitors here.
Know that swimming at Waimea Falls only gets more busy as the day goes on which is why I encourage you to arrive early.
Native Hawaiian Plants in Waimea Valley
The Waimea Arboretum is without a doubt one of the best and easiest places to see a variety of native Hawaiian plants on Oʻahu. It’s one of the reasons that I recommend against staying on the main path as you walk through the valley.
You may find some of the beautiful Abutilon flowers, Kuluʻī, and various Loulu palms to truly only name a few.
If you’d like to learn more about identifying various native Hawaiian plants from around the islands, check out my post on all of my observations across Hawaiʻi.
Read My Separate Post: Native Hawaiian Plant Guide
