Top 10 Hikes in Maui

Hiking in Maui is so special because it is such a diverse island. Depending on where on the island you are or which hike you choose to take you could feel like you are in a lush forest, a steamy jungle, breathtaking cliffs with ocean views, and the desert. That’s not even mentioning your strolls in the sand on the beach! Exploring Maui was truly the experience of a lifetime and will always hold a special place in my heart. Even if you aren’t an outdoorsy person you can find a hike in Maui to wow you. Let’s explore the best hikes in Maui together!

1. Waihee Ridge Trail — 4 miles roundtrip — Difficult trail, potentially dangerous if wet or raining.

It was a very winding road and turns to one lane, to get to the parking lot but we made it. The hike starts with a very steep incline. And the you walk through jungle and see eucalyptus trees, pine trees, passion fruit vines and tons of ferns. We got to see a waterfall and then clouds started to roll in. Then it started to rain. It was cloudy the whole time and rained on and off for the rest of our hike. It’s crazy how skinny the trail gets and the drop off on either side of you makes you dizzy.

2,500 ft Up!

We made it to the top! It was 2 miles up. Clouds all around so we didn’t get any good views or pictures but still really cool to be up there. We met a couple from California at the top and hiked down the mountain with them. They were very nice and gave us a lot of good advice. The man we met started to slip and fall down a part of the trail (it’s was muddy and rainy, very slippery the whole way down) and my husband grabbed his backpack and yanked him up so he didn’t slide off the edge of the cliff. We were very cautious on the 2 miles back down, thankfully we did make it safely back to our car. This is one of the best hikes in Maui because its so different from the other hikes you’ll experience here.

2-3. Nakalele Blowhole and Olivine Pools — 1 mile roundtrip — These are more like rockclimbing than hiking. You can choose easy or more difficult paths but it is a dry, rocky terrain.

Nakalele Blowhole

Crazy beautiful drive and such diverse landscape. We took HI-30 E 10 miles away from civilization. The road turned into highway 340 and was so winding and up and down mountains. We saw jungle, forest, desert, and sea scapes. We climbed down the cliffs overlooking the ocean over all the volcanic rock to the blowhole down by the ocean. The hole was connected to the ocean and waves would come in and then water would shoot up out of the hole. So cool! Tons of crabs around it, I tried to catch a crab and got soaked by the blowhole. We then hiked back up the cliff it was so windy the whole time. Also it was harder to hike went in slippery foam Birkenstocks.

Olivine Pools

We then headed a few more miles down the road past where the highway ends and found more cliffs and at the bottom the Olivine pools. This path was more difficult to hike down. There were also a lot of warning signs people had posted and memorials of people who have died there by rogue waves pulling them out to sea. I was a little nervous once I saw that people died there but, we continued down toward the crashing waves anyway. There were crabs and these jumping fish through the pools. There were deep ones and shallow ones, it was so beautiful. Then we found, I think, the deepest pool, I couldn’t tell how deep down it went maybe 20-50 feet. We saw some tropical fish and then we started discussing if we were getting in or not. It took me awhile but I slid down a slimy rock to about my waste, took a picture and hopped out as quick as I could. No swimming around for me! We scaled back up the cliff.

This is one of the best hikes you can do in Maui because you get off the beaten path and don’t encounter many other people. If you go early enough you’ll miss everyone all together!

4-9. Haleakala Volcano — (we did) 7.3 miles total — There are many hikes as you make your ascent to the summit, we did not do every single one. But here’s a list of the hikes we did on Haleakala: **Pre-purchased pass required.**

• Hosmer Grove Trail— 1 mile roundtrip; there is a parking lot here, right at the trailhead. Also bathrooms! Giant eucalyptus and pine trees here, you feel like you’re hiking in the most refreshing forest you’ve ever been in.
• Halemau’u Trail— 2 miles roundtrip; Parking lot here. Great views of crater and surrounding area. Starts to get windy here. Rocky, desert like terrain.
• Kalahaku Overlook— .3 miles roundtrip; Views of the crater with viewing deck, very windy! Parking lot here.
• Leleiwi Overlook— .4 miles roundtrip; Views of the crater with viewing deck, even windier! Parking lot here.
• Pa Ka’oao Trail— .5 miles roundtrip; parking lot here. Not a difficult trail, this is at the summit near the visitor’s center (more bathrooms here)! Here you can hike up a little higher to get great views of the crater basin. Parking lot here.
• Sliding Sands Trails— 2miles roundtrip (and Red Hill Summit trail .1 mile roundtrip); There’s a parking lot here. The sliding sands trail is actually 11mi+ and you go down through the crater basin. It was extremely difficult to hike here. We hiked a mile out and then back. We consider ourselves athletic and somewhat physically fit. This trail is 10,000 ft up and the air is really different, breathing is more difficult. I didn’t believe it until I experienced it. I’m combining the Red Hill Summit trail (.1mi) with sliding sands because they’re in the same vicinity. The summit observation deck is the highest point on Haleakala 10,023ft! You’ll want to visit here to stay warm! It’s very windy and cold especially if the sun hasn’t rised yet or is about to set. 

We headed away from civilization up the volcano. We noticed the elevation several times, our ears were popping and we felt winded and dizzy. Every 1000 ft or so we had to adjust again. Hiking was much tougher up there. 

Hosmer Grove

Our first hike was through forest and tons of different trees (hosmer grove, elevation 6,800) You could smell the eucalyptus and it was so fresh there. As we climbed up the winding road we noticed the temperature dropping. And some overlooks were so windy you felt like you had to hold on to the rocks around you. 

Crater

The island has tons of lava rock everywhere and all the trails after the first one have been dusty, rocky, and desert like. All of the hikes lead us up or down to an overlook view of the crater on its rim. The crater looks like Mars. There’s red and black rock/sand. 

The hardest trail was the sliding sands trail. Even though it was flat and not rocky. It was exhausting hiking up hill at that elevation. 

Summit

When we reached the summit we had about an hour and a half until sunset. We ate (there’s no food up there, I packed a cooler with ham and cheese sandwiches and chips and salsa) and napped in our car (we had to get up there early to get a parking spot) and then got out and walked around and looked around the lookout tower for about 20 minutes before walking to the sunset viewing spot. 

It was 47 degrees at sunset. Sooo cold and windy. After sunset, which only lasted 20 minutes or so, we waited another hour to look at the stars up there before driving down. The stars were so beautiful. There are several large telescopes at the top shared by university of Hawaii, the government, and other scientists. It is the 4th best place in the world to see space. They monitor all 20,000 manmade objects in orbit around earth. There are over 2,000 working satellites in orbit. I couldn’t get enough of the stars, I couldn’t get a good picture of them either. 

*Side note*:

We planned to watch the sunset at the summit instead of the sunrise. It’s honestly just as beautiful and you’ll be wowed either way. But for sunrise it’s more time sensitive and you have to have special ticketing. We didn’t want to feel rushed during our vacation and it was nice to save (what we believe is) the best for last. The only downside is driving down Haleakala in the dark on all these tight switchbacks. We followed a tour bus down and they had to go very slow which made it a nice pace car for us. It takes about an hour to drive from top to bottom.

Haleakala is probably the best hike in Maui because you get to hike so many different landscapes in one! And you won’t have the opportunity to be 10,000ft up many other places in the world! It really is a once in a lifetime experience.

10. Pipiwai Trail — 4miles roundtrip– Hike to the Waimoku Falls. **Pre-purchased pass required.**

We arrived at the Haleakala National park for round two. This time we were at the end of our Road to Hana trip, staying at sea level, we hiked the Pipiwai trail and saw Waimoku falls. It’s the tallest waterfall in Maui at 400ft. This trail was beautiful. We hiked through jungle and saw an ancient banyan tree. We hiked through a bamboo forest and even saw a mongoose! The trail was 4 miles round trip but we went beyond the trails end point and got right up to the falls. My husband went in the water under it! I was a little worried about the signs they posted about the bacteria in the water. We sat by the waterfall for 10-20 minutes, then headed back.

This is technically part of Haleakala but you probably won’t do this hike the same day that you hike at the summit so, it deserves it’s own section. It is one of the best hikes on Maui because you get to see the tallest waterfall on Maui at the end of it!

Notes:

• The pre-purchased pass that you need to buy to enter Haleakala National Park is good for 3 days. We did all the hikes on Haleakala one day and then the next day we did the Road to Hana so we could get the most out of our pass. The Pipiwai trail is in Haleakala National Park, it’s just on the other side of the volcano.
• Dress in layers when hiking on Haleakala! It’s warm at the bottom but is freezing at the summit!
• Check the weather before going to the Waihee Ridge Trail. Clouds roll in quickly and then your views when you reach the summit viewing deck are gone.
• To get a full itinerary for a week trip in Maui check out my blog post over here.

Hopefully this helps plan your visit to Maui and the best hikes to do there!

Please, as always, reach out with any questions you may have at [email protected].

<3,

Allie