Best Hikes on Oahu: The Aihualama Falls Trail

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: Aihualama Falls Trail
• Where: Honolulu, Hawaii
• Distance: 2.2 miles
• Maximum Elevation: 867 feet
• Elevation Gain: 360 feet
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: Easy
• More Information: The Hikers Guide to O’ahu

Overview

The Aihualama Falls Trail is a great family hike that traverses through the beautiful Lyon Arboretum before ending at a small waterfall.  The hike is only 2.2 miles round-trip on a wide trail with many great informative signs about the plants and wildlife that surround the trail.

Directions

The trail begins at the Lyon Arboretum.  The easiest way to reach the arboretum is to exit the H1 at the University Exit.  From the exit follow Oahu Avenue until it turns into Manoa Road.  Manoa Road passes through a nice neighborhood where even the smallest home will cost over a million dollars.  Eventually the road enters into the rainforest and ends at the parking lot for Paradise Park.

At Paradise Park the parking attendant will ask if you are going to the Manoa Falls Trail or the Lyon Arboretum.  The attendant will let you proceed down the road to the arboretum.  Drive slowly because the road will have many hikers on it walking to the Manoa Falls Trailhead.  At the Manoa Falls Trailhead the road makes a sharp turn to the left where the entrance to Lyon Arboretum can be seen.  Drive up the road through a small neighborhood of homes to the visitor parking lot.

Parking

The parking at Lyon Arboretum has room for about 20-25 cars.  When we arrived at 0930 in the morning on a Saturday the lot was almost full. If the lot is full, alternative parking is available at the pay lot for the Manoa Falls Trail.

Hawaiian Meaning

The Hawaiian world Aihualama translates to “eating lama fruit”.  The lama plant is native to Hawaii.  According to the book, “Place Names of Hawaii” Aihualama is the location that a murderous love affair occurred.  A man named Kauhi from Kailua killed his bride to be named Ki’ihelei who lived in the Manoa Valley.  She was rumored to be having an affair with a man named Kahalaopuna.  An owl that was actually a god-like being called an “aumakua” saw the murder and revived Ki’ihelei because he knew she had been faithful.  Kauhi seeing Ki’ihelei revived, killed her four more times after the owl had revived her each time.  The final time he killed her Kauhi buried her body deep in the ground on the west side of Oahu so she could not be revived again.

Narrative

The day I decided to take my wife and kids hiking on a family friendly trail, also happened to be the morning when we were alerted of an incoming missile attack on Oahu.  The alert went out to cell phones all across Hawaii creating a mass panic.  Fortunately since I am well informed on these issues I knew right a way it was a likely a false alarm and proceeded to get the family ready for our hike.  Right before we stepped out of the door we received a notification that it was in fact a false alarm.

I was 99% sure it was a false alarm when I first received the message, but it is always nice to have certainty that my family and I were not about to be incinerated in a nuclear explosion before going outside for a hike.  It would have been a shame though if Oahu was nuked on this day because the weather was absolutely beautiful when we arrived at the Lyon Arboretum to hike the Aihualama Falls Trail:

The Lyon Arboretum is located at the very back end of the Manoa Valley and is operated by the University of Hawaii.  On weekdays it is open from 8AM-4PM and weekends from 9AM-3PM:

From the parking lot we walked over to the visitor center to register for admittance into the arboretum:

There is no entry fee, but the arboretum suggests a $5 per person donation which I agreed to pay.  At the visitor center the attendant issues out maps for hikers to use and there is also a really good signboard that shows the arboretum’s trails as well:

It may seem hard to believe today, but Manoa Valley at one point had most of its trees removed and was used for cattle grazing and agriculture in the early 1900’s.  The removal of the trees led to a water crisis in 1915.  Dr. Harold Lyon was hired by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association (HSPA) to research plant diseases and to find trees to reforest Hawaii with to end the water crisis.  The original arboretum is was founded in 1918 and was called the Manoa Arboretum.  In 1953 the HSPA sold the land to the University of Hawaii for $1 to turn into a public botanical garden.  Today the site is called the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum and is composed of 193.5 acres of tropical rain forest.  From the visitor center is clear that Dr. Lyon was extremely successful in his reforestation efforts:

The arboretum has over 5,000 types of tropical and sub-tropical plants and over seven miles of hiking trails.  The trail we planned to hike is the arboretum’s longest hike to Aihualama Falls which is 2.2 miles roundtrip in distance.  The trail to the waterfall begins at the visitor center:

From the trail there are various signboards that depict short side trails that explore the various species of plants along the main Aihualama Falls Trail:

My family and I did not explore any of the side trails and just stayed on the main trail.  The vegetation along the main trail is extremely beautiful and varied.  For example here are some ti plants that early Hawaiians used for clothing and cooking:

Here is one of many very large bamboo trees that we saw:

We also passed a section where the arboretum was trying to create taro terraces.  Taro is a potato like plant that the early Polynesian voyagers brought with them and continues to be a staple food of the Hawaiian diet:

Many species of flowers can be seen along the trail as well:

This species of Costus Ginger reminded me of a popsicle:

When the ginger plant fully blooms it is quite beautiful:

After walking through the garden section of the arboretum the trail came to a “Hiking Trail” sign which indicates the trail is about to get steeper as it ascends up the ridge towards the waterfall through a tropical rainforest:

The trail is still in great shape and my kids had no issues hiking up it:

Along the way we saw some very large trees growing in the rainforest:

Other trees had very long snake like roots we had to be careful not to trip over:

We also spotted this marker honoring Dr. Boyd for creating the arboretum:

There are many side trails off of the main trail, but we continued up the main trail that remained quite wide for most of the hike:

Not far from the waterfall we came upon a sign pointing in the direction of Aihualama Falls:

The waterfall is located in a rocky gully that requires some scrambling on slippery rocks to get near the waterfall:

It had not been raining much in the days prior to our visit so the amount of water coming down the waterfall was not that impressive:

Even if there was more water flowing down the falls it would in my opinion still be unimpressive compared to other waterfalls that can be hiked in the Ko’olau Range.  After spending about 15-minutes checking out the waterfall we then turned around and headed back down the trail.  As we got back near the visitor center, the views of the Ko’olau Range opened up for us:

Here is the view of the Ko’olau Range looking towards the direction of the nearby Manoa Falls:

In less than 30 minutes after leaving the waterfall we arrived back at the parking lot where we could see that all the parking spots were full now:

Here is one last picture I took from my parking spot of the beautiful Ko’olau Range:

Conclusion

Overall the hike to Aihualama Falls is a great family friendly trail that my 4 and 8 year old kids had no problem completing.  The waterfall may not be that spectacular compared to other waterfalls on Oahu, but the hike up to it is quite nice and easy for kids to access.  The Lyon Arboretum keeps the trails well maintained and there are many signboards along the way that describe the various plants and wildlife that can seen.  Since this is a moist rainforest I highly recommend bringing bug spray because the mosquitos were pretty bad the day we visited.  I also recommend getting to the arboretum before 10:00 AM because parking here can quickly run out.  For anyone with a family looking for 1-2 hours to spend outside, the Lyon Arboretum and the Aihualama Falls Trail is well worth checking out.

Disclaimer:  On-Walkabout is a website about outdoor activities that is not affiliated with any state or national government.  The articles on this website are for informational purposes only and to inspire others to get outside.  The activity descriptions are given to showcase the beauty and fun of experiencing the outdoors.  The writer of On-Walkabout is not responsible for any accidents, injuries, rescues, legal issues, or loss of life by anyone attempting the activities listed on this website.  Outdoor activities can be dangerous which is why it is the responsibility of the reader to use common sense and understand their own abilities before attempting an outdoor activity inspired by this website.  Most importantly parents need to understand the ability of their children before attempting an outdoor activity.  Just because my young children completed a hike mentioned on this site does not mean your children can as well.  Be safe and I hope this website inspires others to go and enjoy the outdoors as much as I do.  

YOU CAN FIND MORE GREAT HIKES AT THE OAHU REGIONAL TRAIL FINDER:

Note: Further information about hiking on Oahu can be found in the below book: