Being a big fan of waterfalls and having seen many in upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington State, and Oregon, I wanted to check out some of Hawaii's famous cascades during my stay there. I set out first to Kapena Falls, a little known waterfall located only a 15-minute drive from where I was staying in Honolulu.
The most difficult thing about the short hike to Kapena Falls was finding the trailhead. The directions given to me by Apple Maps brought me to Pali Highway, and after just a short distance from where I entered the roadway, I passed it, not catching any signs or markers noting the trail. I made a u-turn to go back to where the map said it was, and luckily, on the other side of the road, there was a turnoff on the highway that I exited onto. I got out of my car, walked over to the guardrail to see if I could see anything below, but nothing.
Finally, and I can't recall exactly how I figured this out, but I came upon a website that pointed me to Nuuanu Cemetery, down the hill from Pali Highway. I found the cemetery, but I still had some figuring out to do once I got there in order to find the trailhead for the falls. Eventually, I ended up driving through to the back of the cemetery, where there was a small parking lot with a garage at the end of it. Some hikers in another car pointed me to an unmarked trail towards the left of the garage where I finally reached the beginning of my hike.
The hike to the falls was short, only about a half of a mile, and very easy. The trail was beautiful, with lush tropical plants everywhere, and the calming sound of running water from the creek beyond. The atmosphere was much more comfortable in the shade of the trees than my previous hike, and I was the only one around. The falls were unimpressive, but still the experience was worth it. Moments of zen, for sure! In all, I spent about 20 minutes exploring this one, and it was a nice preview for the other waterfall hikes on my list. read more