How to Hike Down Waipio Valley - Big Island - Hawaii

The gorgeous Waipio Valley is located on the northeastern corner of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is famous for its gorgeous coastline, black sand beach, and towering hiking trail that drops down 1,020 feet in less than a mile and at times over a grade of 25 percent. You can drive down to the bottom but a four-wheel drive car is required. If you need to use the bathroom before you get started you can use the restroom which is the building on the right with the green roof. This is also a great spot to take in the scenic overlook and read a little bit about the history of beautiful Waipio Valley. You can learn about everything from the callow fields to the kings and epic battles that took place in the valley. Another thing that I was surprised to learn is that even though it is a little hard to see with the GoPro distortion, that last little piece of land that you can see on the horizon is actually the island of Maui. One thing that we cannot stress enough is to bring plenty of water. We saw a lot of people out there that day that were totally unprepared. This hill is an absolute beast and it is completely exposed so in the warmer months this hike is going to be very hot. If hiking down the steep hill is starting to take its toll on your shins we found that it can be a little bit helpful to either sidestep it or walk in a little bit of a zigzag pattern. You definitely need to keep your eyes peeled for cars on this hike. There are several spots where the road was so narrow that we actually had to hop over the guardrail just to give the cars a little bit more space. We definitely weren't the only ones out there that day trying to get our workout in. This little guy here was going for gold. I was doing my best right here to hold the camera what I thought was level just to give you some sort of an idea of how steep this hill really is. I just don't feel like it even does it justice though. It's one of those things that you just need to kind of see to believe. One of the great things about this hike is that no matter how much it hurts either on the way down or the way up you can walk right over to the edge and take in this gorgeous view. It was at this point that we saw a totally off-road capable truck struggling its way up the hill. It definitely makes sense why they don't even allow two-wheel drive cars on this road. We finally made it to the fork at the bottom of the hill and little did I know that V, the master of wild fruit, had been cataloging all the fruit on the way down the hill. And then we have grapefruit, avocado, mango, lava, and papaya. At this point if you make a left you're going to head further into the valley. You'll find yourself with callow fields, there's a waterfall, and I heard wild horses. If you make a right though you're going to head to the beach which is what we did. We were there on a particularly rainy week so the trail was a little bit on the muddy side. Nothing unpassable though. After a couple of light bends the trail dives into this gorgeous tree canopy. Being from southern California we don't see this level of green very often I'll tell you that much. After the fork the trail is pretty straightforward. I believe we came to two smaller forks but we always stayed to the right. The roads that go to the left go to private property. Please be respectful to the locals. To you it may be just a fun vacation activity but to them this is home. In addition to all the tropical fruit V found the tickle plant hiding along the trail. This is a really cool plant. When you touch the leaves they close up kind of like a harmless venus fly trap. Finally we had reached the beach after an over 1,000 foot drop from the ridge we found ourselves on the black sands of Waipio beach. This gorgeous beach is huge. It comes in at right about three quarters of a mile long and that doesn't even count the long boulder section. One thing that seemed to be missing however was the waterfall that you were supposed to be able to see from the beach. It obviously wasn't off to the left so we figured that it had to be off to the right across the boulders. If you decide to take the almost half mile trek out onto the boulders please be careful. Some of them are slippery. Some of them will rock when you step on them. There is a lot of good chances to hurt yourself but the scenic coastline is gorgeous. Finally at last we saw the, drum roll please, waterfall. It may not have been Niagara Falls but I think the struggle made it a little bit more beautiful. After taking in the view for a little bit we headed back to the beach. That is when we realized that from the river that separates the two beaches you can actually see the waterfall. But hey at least we knew we got a view that not too many people probably get to see. Soon enough it was time to head back. Now I typically like to voice over all our videos just because the sound quality is so much better without all the wind going through the microphone. But I figured I would let the audio through on this because I really want you to hear the agony we were in as we made our way up this monster hill. This is no joke. This is no joke people. Progress report. We are uh are we halfway? I wouldn't think so. And uh I don't know if you can see it. This is not Hollywood special effects. This is real sweat. A little bit. Just a little bit. And the worst part is look at that. Oh dang it. What are your thoughts? Piece of cake. I hope this shows the grade here. This is crazy steep. Here. Maybe the guardrail with the mountain. We're looking down the hill. We made it back to the little groove dealios. Seems like it helps a tiny bit. Still no problem? No problem. No problem. Piece of cake. How we doing? Cake. Not a problem. Captain's log. Three years later. Still climbing. Sun supplies. Running out of food. All hope seems lost. I think I'm going into the light. We're begging for cars to come so we can go stand on the side of the road and take a break. So if you're in the area please drive down the street. We'd love you. We're rounding the corner. It's a good sign. Still a little bit of steepness to go but almost home free. Sweaty and exhausted we finally reached the top. It was like that scene with the stairs from Rocky and we were definitely ready for some of that delicious Hawaiian shave ice. This may be far from a casual stroll but the views and the adventure are totally worth the hike. I would do this one again in a heartbeat. If you enjoy our wacky adventures be sure to like, comment, and subscribe. Check us out on Instagram at live that adventure life and see more of our adventures over at thatadventurelife.com