Some friends and I decided to hike the Manoa Falls Trail which links to the Aihualama Trail yesterday. It was a very fun diverse hike full of several bamboo forests, waterfalls, pools, rivers, and switchbacks. I’ve never really seen a bamboo forest before so it was quite an amazing sight.
The Manoa Falls portion of the hike is a piece of cake…it has a nice groomed trail and is flat most of the way. Once you get to the falls (about 1 mile up the trailhead), the Aihualama Trail starts. The falls is a great point to relax and admire the beauty of the falls. There is a small and shallow pool you can swim it where the falls dump into. Water falling over 100 feet generates a nice misty breeze at the bottom.
The Aihualama Trail is about 2 miles each way, but is uphill the whole way and has a couple rounds of switchbacks. During this hike you know that there is an amazing view beyond the thick foliage, but it never really presents itself. You get a tiny glimpse at a couple of the spots along the way, but nothing to write home about. There are however a few really thick bamboo forests on this trail and a couple of the biggest banyan trees I’ve ever seen as well.
Round trip both trails took about 4 hours. Overall it was an amazing experience.
Manoa Falls – Aihualama Trail Location:
View Larger Map
I loved this trail. The bamboo stands and massive banyan tree were great highlights. Lots of birds in the brush on either side, too. Eventually I broke off a piece of bamboo to use as a walking stick to help me navigate the roots, but then I chose a somewhat rainy day so the trail was slick.
I absolutely loved this trail. It can get very slippery on the Aihualama trail. Up at the top there is another loop called the flats where boar hunting takes place on Wednesdays and Sundays. Very rewarding experience.