Fun hikes - Big Island and Maui
 

Anyone have recommendations for some fun hikes on these islands? Anything between 1-6 miles is what I'm looking for.
How is the hike into Waimea valley on the Big Island? I'm worried about the 1 mile 45% walk back out. Is the valley floor worth it?
Thanks!

I'm an avid hiker, but the snorkeling on the west side of the Big Island is so good, that I'd recommend minimizing the hiking and maximizing time in the water.

I just rode a horse on the rim of the Waipio Valley, but it's good enough to merit some time; I would have been okay walking out. My favorite hike was the Wild Lava Tube at Volcano, which is free, but requires signing up ahead of time. It requires some easy rock scrambling. We took a couple of other hikes at Volcano, but hard lava gets tedious fast.

travelyn,
My son Brian started a thread a couple of days ago regarding backpacking in the Waimanu Valley. I told him that he would get all sorts of advice on Fodors.
Unfortunately, he received no responses. Do you have any words of wisdom?
JoeG

My family went on a number of great hikes on the Big Island. Unfortunately,it's been awhile {7 years},and my memory for names stinks BIG-TIME, so sometimes, I can sadly only offer descriptions:

Besides the lava tube hike travellynn mentioned, there are a lot of wonderful hikes leading from Volcano House to the smoking caledra floor and areas around the volcano including Devastation Trail and Earthquake Trail.

The Trail to Puako {sp?}petroglyphs over the lava was a fascinating, as was the Kings Trail.

The trail to Kealokekua Bay and the Captain Cook monument rewards you with hisory and some of the best snorkling on the island, but I think that this are is best accessed by kayak or sailboat {hot and stteo, over lava}.

In addition, a drive and walk around Lapakai State Park will provide you with a history lesson and gorgeous scenery. Pace of Refuge is another extremely interesting site - not exactly a hike, though.

Near Hilo, be sure to hike the short trail to Akaka and Kahuna Falls, and the Tropical Garden near there {can't remermber the name, rather pricey}, is a lovely spot for a picnic.

As to Waipio Valley, we took a mule-drawn wagon tour, and absolutely loved it - what a beautiful spot. I don't know about hiking there.

Can go on and on. We spent 3 weeks on the island, and didn't begin to cover the hikes we would have liked to do. Have fun!

Really, I should check for typos. The hike to Capain Cook Monument was hot and STEEP!

Thanks for the replies!

travellyn, that's definitely a good suggestion on the snorkeling. We're doing a snorkeling/rafting trip (Sea Quest?)to Kealakakua and Honaunau and I think from there we'll decide how much more time we want to do in the water. If it's ALL the time, that's OK. :-) Or we could snorkel in the mornings and hike in the afternoons.

I'm definitely planning on doing lots of hiking in VNP. Kileaua Iki trail sounds wonderful. As of now it sounds like hiking to lava flow is REALLY far, so I won't count on that.

I'll look into the wild lava tube tour!

We did Sea Quest, too, and enjoyed it. The next day, we rented snorkel equipment for the rest of the week. We had been concerned that our kids would have a little trouble getting used to snorkeling, but that turned out not to be an issue.

We live where there is great hiking, and we have family near good beaches, but the clear water and abundance of fish on the Kona side were a special treat for us.

They only let 12 people per week take the Wild Lava Tube hike, and you have to call VNP for reservations on the Wednesday exactly a week before the hike @7:45 am Hawaii time.

My horseback ride went to a "hidden waterfall". While we were there, a man with a couple of kids joined us. They had walked from the Waimea area to the back side of the valley. I had read about that hike in the BI Revealed. The waterfall is beautiful, but the water was only about 62 F. Take an extra T-shirt or something to stay warm in the water if you decide to take the hidden waterfall walk.

JoeG, your son might find some good information on backpacking from a book about various hikes on the BI. I can't remember the name, but I ordered it from Amazon.

I am a very fit person, so I have to tell you about my hike into Haleakala Crater. It was really spectacular. The hike starts at the top of Maui right near the astronomy station. It is colder up there. (Sitting in Chicago right now in 1 degree weather, its hard to call that cold, but compared to Maui beaches it was drastically different.) Anyway, the crater is vast and open and deceptive. I hiked the Sliding Sands Trail. It winds its way down into the crater. Its easy to hike down and fun because it looks different around every turn. I hiked about an hour down, which is a far cry from the whole way down.

HOWEVER . . . Let me tell you... getting out of there was one of the fitness challenges of my life. I don't exactly remember how long it took, but it was hours of hiking uphill. Imagine climbing the stairs in an office building for 2 hours or so. I was breathing as hard as any intense work out for the whole 2 hours or so. I would have given up if there was any other way out of there.
That being said, it was gorgeous. A totally barren volcanic crater, vast and open with all these beautiful colors of sand. And it was totally different from the rest of Maui.
So my advise is, beware of the deception of hiking down and the visual deception of this vast open crater. If you hike Sliding Sands Trail, its not in the "fun" category unless you don't go very far down before you turn around. Bring lots of water and sunscreen and a hat.

Also, there is a book called Hike Maui which also offers a lot of trails on the island including waterfall hikes.

Have fun. See you there in a week!

SMB, that's my concern about hiking into Waimea valley, not bad going down (except on the knees!) but then SLOW and difficult to get back out.
I'm planning on skipping Haleakala since I'm going to VNP and a tour up to Mauna Kea. That should be enough volcanos for one trip. :-)

travellyn, I have the Revealed books for these two islands, and I did see that hike on the back of Waimea valley, that one is an option too. I'm glad to hear the good review for Sea Quest!

kilaueau iki was my favorite, but i also enjoyed the hike out to the green sand beach down by south point. you used to be able to drive there but the road has gotten so trashed over the years that you now have to walk there. it was a really pretty walk, albeit very windy but the water was so amazingly blue and gorgeous. it's an easy 2 mile walk, then you go down some "steps" down a cliff to the beach, which is literally green. a good lunch spot too.

quimbymoy (or anyone else),
Do you know anything about hiking in the Waimanu Valley? Swimming holes or ruins up river?
JoeG