Upper Waikani Falls

Get there early if you’re looking to photograph the waterfalls. Parking is not allowed near the waterfall or the bridge. The small parking lot after the bridge was closed. Don’t know if it was officially closed or if locals just set up the orange cones and the plastic “no parking” sign that looks like it was bought from Home Depot. The usual entry point down to the waterfall was blocked by a short barbed wire fence that can easily be walked around (probably locals again). Got in, got out long before the tour buses showed up.

Awesome waterfall! The only parking is up the road a few hundred yards and walking down the road to the bridge. Access is by climbing over the bridge and down a sketchy trail. Rocks are super slippery - Not for everyone.

I parked about a quarter mile to the east of the bridge. I went down the northeast corner of the bridge and after two 8' drops, it was clear I wasn't going back up that way with 30 lbs of camera gear. Along the stream, it's treacherous walking on slippery rocks. A somewhat technical climb got me up to the southeast corner, where I was able to haul myself over the rail. It was worth it for the beautiful shot (check it out). This is not for weak climbers, and you should take a rope to tie off to the bridge.

One of the last spot you can swimming. Hike it’s kind of hard but you have to use chain right beside the bridge to get down. The chain it’s on left side of the bridge when you back to Paia. Awesome place and you can have some privacy

Beautiful waterfalls! The hike down is treacherous but you get rewarded. Just make sure you have proper shoes, sandals won't do. Go down from the left side of the bridge, use the chain to lower yourself. After that, there's a trail to the left. Follow the trail, climb over some boulders and you'll arrive at the foot of the falls. If you have balance or mobility troubles, you can still see the falls clearly from the bridge.

This made the trip to Hana way more exciting. There are multiple pullovers to take pictures and access the waterfalls. This is a little bit more past the halfway point but is very worth your time. A couple ways down on either side of the bridge to get to the waterfall. It is a little steep but very manageable. It does get a little crowded so be prepared to walk back down the hill after finding parking. There's also a rogue crawfish that likes to pinch toes.

A little stop off waterfall on the Road to Hana. We looked from the bridge and saw people swimming in it down below so we made the hike down. There's no parking at the falls so we parked a distance up the road and walked down. The path from the bridge is fairly dangerous. The right side is closed and fenced off and you can see people still make that side in but the left side has a decent rock decline which is steep and slippery. There's a chain bolted to the rock to assist but one slip and your probably hurting something. You then have to traverse through the stream bed which is pretty rocky and as always puts you at risk in case of flash flooding. At the bottom of the falls there was a good size pool of which you could swim over to the base of the falls. At the base there was a really big ledge under the water as to conveniently stand on for your photos. You could tell this was Instagram model shot heaven as there were quite a few young people down taking photos. Water was clean and it was ridiculously refreshing.

Upper Waikani Falls was a magical place to visit. It's definitely a must see place while on the way to Hana. I lost my small little drone there, so the Hawaiian Gods got paid. Hopefully I'll be repaid in dividends for my sacrifice. Truly though a stunning place to go! Btw, the entrance to get down to the falls is a chain and red rope teathered together to help you climb down the slick rock just off to the left side of the bridge as you're facing the water falls. Parking is just up the road past the falls on the left. About five cars or so can park their at a time.