Pīpīwai Trail Safety

What is the flash flood risk at the crossings?

Real, and it is the hazard that catches people out, because the weather that causes it happens somewhere you cannot see. The two crossings at 1.8 miles drain slopes that run for miles up toward the summit, and heavy rain up there arrives down here as a fast, brown, debris-carrying stream while the sky above the trail is merely gray.

The rule is simple and it has no exceptions worth taking. If the water is moving fast, if it is brown, or if you cannot see the bed you are stepping on, turn around. That applies on the way out and it applies harder on the way back, when the temptation is to cross anyway because the car is on the other side. Water here drops as quickly as it rises, so waiting thirty minutes on the bank is a normal outcome rather than an emergency.

Is there rockfall at Waimoku Falls?

Yes, and this is the most serious hazard on the trail. Waimoku comes off a 400 foot cliff face, and the boulder field you stand on at the base is made of the material that has already come down. The park posts a warning sign at a set-back viewing point for exactly this reason.

A child was killed by falling rock here in 2011. That is the whole argument. Stand at the sign, take the picture from there, and treat the pool at the base as scenery rather than a destination. The mist and the downdraft reach the sign anyway, which is most of what people came for.

What about the pool at the top of Makahiku?

There is a fence at the lip of Makahiku Falls at 0.5 miles, and there are photographs on the internet of people sitting in the pool on the wrong side of it, at the top of a 200 foot drop, on rock that is wet and rounded and offers nothing to hold if you slide.

Crossing that fence is a citable offense and rangers do write the citations. The overlook you are meant to use is a railed clearing with a straight view across the gulch at the falls, and it is a good view. Take it from there.

Can you get sick from the stream water?

Leptospirosis is present in fresh water throughout this district. It is a bacterial infection carried in animal urine, it enters through broken skin or through your eyes, nose, and mouth, and it starts like flu a few days to a couple of weeks later.

The practical version: do not drink the stream water or filter it for drinking, keep open cuts and blisters out of it, and if you go in at the crossings with a scrape on your shin, rinse it with your own water afterward. Wading and swimming in the streams here is not recommended in general, and the Pools of ʻOheʻo down at the coast are closed to entry outright.

Where do people actually fall?

On the boardwalk and on the stone steps, and slips are far more common than anything dramatic. The boardwalk through the bamboo from about 1 mile in is smooth timber that stays wet under a canopy the sun does not reach, and a worn sole finds nothing to grip on it.

The stone steps in the first half mile are the other one, and they are worse on the way down than the way up, at the end of the day, on tired legs. Most of the injuries that end a hike here are an ankle or a wrist from a fall like that rather than anything the warning signs are about. Short steps, a hand free, and a slower descent than you think you need.

How far away is help?

More than 1 hour, and that is the drive rather than the wait for someone to start driving. Cell service is spotty to nonexistent through the whole district and it does not come back until well up the highway toward Hāna, so calling for help usually means someone walking out to the visitor center.

The consequences are ordinary and worth acting on. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back. Hike with at least one other person if you can. Carry enough water that a two hour delay is uncomfortable rather than dangerous. Groups are capped at 12 people, and a larger party has to split by 30 minutes.

Why you should clean your shoes

Clean soil off your shoes before and after. Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death is a fungal disease spread on dirt. The ʻōhiʻa trees along this trail are the backbone of the forest that makes the hike what it is, and the fungus travels in the dirt in your treads from one island valley to the next.

There are boot brush stations at trailheads across the state. Use one before you drive here and use one after, and knock the mud off in the lot if there is nothing else. It costs a minute.

Questions

Is the Pipiwai Trail safe?

Yes, for people who stay on the trail and read the water. The hazards that matter are flash flooding at the two crossings, rockfall at the base of Waimoku, and slips on wet stone and boardwalk.

Has anyone died on the Pipiwai Trail?

Yes. A child was killed by falling rock at the base of Waimoku Falls in 2011, which is why the park posts a warning sign at a set-back viewing point. Stay behind it.

Can you swim at Waimoku Falls?

The pool at the base sits in an active rockfall zone and the park asks visitors to stay at the warning sign. Down at the coast, the Pools of ʻOheʻo are closed to entry.

Can you get leptospirosis on the Pipiwai Trail?

It is present in fresh water here. Keep open cuts out of the stream, do not drink or filter it, and rinse any scrape with your own water after the crossings.

Is there cell service on the Pipiwai Trail?

Spotty to none, and it does not improve on the trail. Emergency care is more than 1 hour away, so download maps and tell someone your plan before you lose signal.

What do you do if the stream is high on the Pipiwai Trail?

Turn around. If either crossing at 1.8 miles is fast, brown, or hiding the bed, do not cross in either direction. Levels here drop as fast as they rise.