Outdoor sights in Maui
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Pipiwai Trail
The Pipiwai Trail runs up the 'Ohe'o streambed, rewarding hikers with perfect views of the upper waterfalls. The trail starts on the mauka side of the visitor center and leads up to Makahiku Falls (0.5mi/800m) and Waimoku Falls (2mi/3.2km). Or take a little shortcut by picking up the trail from the pedestrian crossing at the highway. To see both falls takes about two hours return. The upper section is muddy, but boardwalks cover the worst bits.
Along the path, you'll pass large mango trees and patches of guava before coming to an overlook after about 10 minutes. Makahiku Falls, a long bridal-veil waterfall that drops into a deep gorge, is just off to the right. Thick gree…
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B
Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge
A bird-watcher's oasis, the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge harbors native waterbirds year-round and hosts migratory ducks and shorebirds from October to April. In the rainy winter months Kealia Pond swells to more than 400 acres, making it one of the largest natural ponds in Hawaii. In summer it shrinks to half the size, giving it a skirt of crystalline salt (Kealia means 'salt-encrusted place').
You can view the pond from the boardwalk on N Kihei Rd, as well as from the refuge's visitor center off Mokulele Hwy at the 6-mile marker. In both places, you're almost certain to spot wading Hawaiian black-necked stilts, Hawaiian coots and black-crowned night herons - all …
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C
'Iao Needle
'Iao Needle, the rock pinnacle that rises straight up 2250ft, takes its name from 'Iao, the beautiful daughter of Maui. 'Iao Needle is said to be 'Iao's clandestine lover, captured by Maui and turned to stone. A monument to love, this is truly the big kahuna, the ultimate phallic symbol.
Whether you believe in legends or not, this place looks like something torn from the pages of a fairy tale. Clouds rising up the valley form an ethereal shroud around the top of 'Iao Needle. With a stream meandering beneath and the steep cliffs of the West Maui Mountains in the backdrop, it's a picture-postcard scene. Just a few minutes' walk from the parking lot, you'll reach a bridge wh…
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D
Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens Park
Two miles west of Wailuku, the family-oriented Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens Park pays tribute to Hawaii's varied ethnic heritage. Among the highlights are a traditional Hawaiian hale, a New England-style missionary home, a Filipino farmer's hut, Japanese gardens with stone pagodas and a Chinese pavilion with a statue of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen (who, incidentally, briefly lived on Maui).
'Iao Stream runs through the park, bordered by picnic shelters with barbecue pits. The place is cheerfully alive with families picnicking here on weekends.
At the west end of the park is the Hawaii Nature Center, a nonprofit educational facility with kid-oriented exhibits. The center a…
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E
'Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve
This 818-hectare (2045-acre) reserve is a distinctive marine life habitat with unique geological features, including anchialine pools and kipuka (mounds of earth encircled by lava from Maui's last flow in 1790). The remains of a coastal Hawaiian village - its old sites marked by walled and terraced platforms - sit between lava flows at 'Ahihi Bay. Snorkellers at 'Ahihi Cove are treated to dazzling coral, parrotfish and sea turtles.
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F
Makena State Park
Makena State Park wraps three beaches in one, and should be high on every traveler's itinerary. Its crowning glory, Big Beach, is the sort of scene that people conjure up when they dream of a Hawaiian beach - beautiful and expansive, with virtually no development on the horizon. Although it's a state park, Makena remains in a natural state, with no facilities except for a couple of pit toilets and picnic tables.
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Kula Botanical Garden
Pleasantly overgrown and shady, the mature Kula Botanical Garden has walking paths that wind through acres of theme plantings, including native Hawaiian specimens and a 'taboo garden' of poisonous plants. Because a stream runs through it, the garden supports a wider variety of vegetation than you'll find in other Kula gardens - the whole place is an explosion of color.
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G
'Iao Valley State Park
If you've seen just one photograph of Maui's lush interior, odds are it was of 'Iao Needle, the green pinnacle that provides the focal point for 'Iao Valley State Park. Nestled in the mountains, 3mi west of central Wailuku, this park extends clear up to Pu'u Kukui (5788ft), Maui's highest and wettest point.
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