Waimae Falls Park

From a bridge right before the falls

Trail: Waimea Falls Park - A walk through the botanical gardens to Waimea Falls
Distance: 2.4 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 100-200 ft (marginal)
Hiking time: couple of hours depending on how much time you spend in the garden and at the falls
Area: North shore, midway between Haleiwa and the Turtle Bay (northern most point of the island)
Trailhead: Waimae Falls Park Entrance
Trailhead Coordinates: N21 38.175 W158 03.276
Sights: Botanical Garden, Waimea Falls
Directions via bus: Take the 52 from Ala Moana Center or downtown area. It will take you West then North via highways then long the North shore. Ask the driver to drop you off at Waimea Falls Park.
Directions via car: Go to Haleiwa and follow Kamehameha Highway along the North Shore. About 5 miles later, you'll see a Waimea Bay. Follow the road into the valley and you'll see a turn off on the right hand side into Waimea Falls Park.
Recommendations for hike: This is a park. Admission fee The trail is a paved path to the waterfall. Can be done in slippers. Facilities at the entrance and along the way. You can by food/drinks at the entrance. Another drink vendor close to the falls. The falls has a lifeguard on duty. Bring some swim trunks and maybe some water. That's about it. You can easily get to the falls in slippers. Some mosquitoes towards the falls but it's manageable without bug spray.




Easy!

If you're looking for an adventure, this isn't the place. It is still nice though.

So Nicole, her parents (Mike and Nanette), and I went to Waimea Falls Park this morning. It's a tourist spot with a building at the entrance housing full facilities, food, a gift shop, staff to guide you. Along the way you'll find a plethora of plants and some animals. Most of the plants are labeled. You'll find some peacocks, peahens, birds (some endangered). It's a stroll through a park.

The falls is nice enough. The waterfall was mild when we were there. There's plenty of people, all seem to be tourists. It's a good place for the family. You can't climb on the rocks despite some web pics of people diving. There are no jumpoff points. The lifeguard said certain points of the pool are 30 ft deep.

Enjoy the pics!

Entrance to park

Peacock chilling at the top of some stars

Interesting giant lily pads, a couple feet in diameter

The general path

Interesting spiky thing

They had some cultural sites. This was a gaming ground with 3 examples using a stick, puck, and some rocks. We had fun. I have a not too flattering pic of my friend... your welcome.

Bumble bee at least an inch in length... just going from flower to flower... disappearing into them and backing out.

Nice flower

Endangered bird, didn't catch the name

Giant asparagus... young bamboo

Some peahens (did not know they were called that)

Nice overall view of the falls. There are better pics on the web when the water is really flowing. I'm still impressed with what this panoramic program can do. This was originally 3 separate images.