On Monday took my wife to Iao Valley state Monument park. Luckily I did on an over cast day because…read morewe seen beautiful water falls . The river down below was very strong and rough I've been here while it was a sunny day and you can actually go down to the river bed . What a sacred place you just feel the power of ancient Hawaiian soldiers fighting in this Valley . When I was a kid that mountain peak called a Iao needle used to have a little hole on top of that peak . Just like a needle point where you thread it through the needle hole. Very relaxing Valley away from all the stress in life which I really need . Support local

Iao Valley sits in Central-West Maui and covers a large area as a state park. We drove here from…read moreHonokōwai Beach Park on the west side. The GPS routed us down and then back north. Although it looks like a detour, it makes sense. The northern road is extremely narrow (at points only one car can pass), winding, and very slow. If you can avoid that route, definitely do. **Reservations Required You need to book online in advance. **Admission: $5 per person + $10 parking. For 2 people we paid $21.53 total. **Earliest entry is 7am. Parking is limited, so reserve an early slot if possible. They ask you to arrive about 30 minutes before your scheduled entry. **No cellphone reception once you head up the mountain. Cell service and even car radio cut out completely. Best to download maps or take screenshots beforehand. **Bring a power bank; we eventually just switched cellphones to airplane mode to save battery. In early December, mornings are a little cool, but once the sun comes up it gets really hot. Bring sunscreen, a light jacket, water, and hiking shoes. The trail is short (about 0.6 miles), but the ground is muddy and rocky, with some narrow paths brushing up against plants. If you don't like contact with tall grass, long sleeves help. It feels a bit like walking through a botanical garden. The highlight is Kuka'emoku (the "Iao Needle"), a 1,200-foot natural rock formation rising from the valley floor. We took our time, stopping often for photos and to enjoy the scenery, so the whole walk ended up taking us around 3 hours. Iao Valley State Monument 54 S High St, Wailuku, HI 96793

Great place right off of Highway 30 to catch the sunset! Beautiful views in general though. Parking…read moregets pretty packed closer to sunset so best to be a little early. You can even see other islands from this lookout. Worth putting aside 30 minutes to take in the scenery.

View Whale Papawai…read moreLookout (aka "the pali lookout") a scenic vista point along Honoapi'ilani Highway. The Good: *Doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it anyway: free! *Great 180° viewpoint with almost zero obstructions. *Views of Haleakalā, as well as the islands of Molokini, Kaho'olawe and Lana'i. *Evidently, this is the spot for whale watching. I can't confirm this as we arrived in April, which is towards the end of the whale spotting season (November-May w/ peak viewing being Jan-March). *Fantastic spot for sunsets *Paved parking lot w/ a left turn pocket for safe exit if you're traveling westbound. The Meh: * The parking lot is fit for maybe a dozen or so cars, and I've heard it can get full pretty quickly. The Ugly: *There's some trails to get you down closer to the water, but I'm not sure if they're official or just "social paths." Regardless, remember my dad's rule #1: I told you not to be stupid, you moron. TLDR: Fantastic views at my favorite price point.

Memorial Park in Kula, Maui…read more This is a beautiful small roadside park along the Kula Highway (Route 37) in the Upcountry part of Maui. Located between Mile Markers 18 and 19. We stopped here for a short while on our way out from Ulupalakua. The park was nicely maintained and clean, free from trash. We found many stray, wild chickens around, mostly at the small parking area but these chickens move everywhere... In the park is a stone arch with a pair of Chinese guardian lions (or imperial guardian lions) called Fu Foo Dogs, two larger than life bronze statues of Sun Yat Sen and his brother Sun Mei, as well as shady trees and tropical plants. There are a few picnic tables placed apart from each other around the park. No grills. Nice and peaceful. Look down to see beautiful views of Kihei, Wailea, Puu Olai, Makena, and the West Maui Mountains... so cool to see the islands of Molokini and Kahoolawe. We could tell the crescent-shaped of the island. This is an uninhabited islet, btw, located between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe. There are no restroom facilities in this park. Nice history break. Review #2731

Cute little park that anyone can easily miss and it is not in a popular area. There is not much…read morecell reception or bathroom so plan accordingly.

Pretty place to visit if you're waiting to go to the lava tubes. Otherwise, you're not missing…read moremuch if you skip it.

Three stars only because there's not a whole lot to see monument wise but the experience including…read morethe panoramic view of both the city and harbor make it worth stopping by. The no trespassing signs refer to vehicular traffic it is okay to park on the street walk up the hill and through the gates. The lava rock structures are located at two levels although only the one at the lower level is viewed as a monument. The rest were built as heiau (Hawaiian temples).

This was a pleasant park to walk around since we did not have reservations at another nearby state…read moremonument. Picnic facilities, well tended gardens, notable statues and structures honoring Asian groups that reside on Maui, and koi ponds. We also saw chickens, a turtle, and a pig. Beautiful views available free of charge.

Right along Wailuku Stream, this park was created to honor Maui's multicultural immigrant history…read more Inside you'll find architecture inspired by early Hawaiian homes, a New England saltbox, a Portuguese villa with gardens, plus courtyards reflecting Chinese, Japanese, and Korean traditions. The park's name dates back to the 1790 Battle of Kepaniwai, when Kamehameha I fought against Maui's King Kahekili. Though the site was once left in ruins, today it's a peaceful park. Locals come here to grill (you can bring your own meat and charcoal) and cool off in the stream. The park itself isn't very large. At the entrance you'll spot the "天下為公" arch, and inside the Chinese garden there's a bronze statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Displays highlight his connections to Honolulu and Maui, as well as the early Chinese immigrants who came to Hawaii in the 18th century. (Some of the info boards even gave me a little more perspective on how Sun Yat-sen was able to fund and recover from his failed revolutions.) It's only a few minutes from Iao Valley State Monument, so it makes a nice quick stop for photos and a walk. But if you're coming just for this park, it might feel a bit underwhelming. Kepaniwai Park & Heritage Gardens 870 Iao Valley Rd, Wailuku, HI 96793 Open 7am-5:30pm

Lava Fields is more of a scenic beach walk than a traditional hike, and it's such a beautiful way…read moreto spend time outdoors. You're walking alongside the water with nonstop ocean views, and the contrast of the lava rock and blue water is stunning the entire way. What's great about this walk is how flexible it is. You can go for miles or turn around whenever you want, which makes it accessible for all levels. It's very close to Wailea and some gorgeous beaches, so it's easy to fit into your day. Be sure to wear good footwear since the lava rock can be uneven and unstable in areas. Seeing the wild goats along the way was an added bonus and made the experience feel extra special. Peaceful, scenic, and a must-do if you're in the area.

Once you come to the Bay you can walk an established trail along the lava fields…read more There are remnants of lava rock houses from long ago. Now you see wild goats.

I love this highway a lot in my time in Maui. It is called the Hana Highway. I was a tourist there…read moreand I played one of the guided tours while driving this highway. The guided tour was on point with where I was on the highway. It played melodies and instructed turns and upcoming paths. Driving this highway was pretty difficult because there were narrow turns and everything was just narrow. Any slight mishap can land you down the ocean. The breathtaking part about this highway were the trees! I love the trees so damn much that I had all windows rolling down. There were mango and eucalyptus trees everywhere. I smelled mangoes and eucalyptus the whole time. The eucalyptus trees were a good refresher and awakening call! They also purified my car and got rid of any food odors from meals I had in the car! Thankfully they acted as a perfume and air freshener! The whole car ended up smelling like eucalyptus! Luckily these eucalyptus trees were everywhere in Maui! The whole ocean was all around the highway! The ocean water skep sparkling from the sun! The highway was very flat and not much hills. There were some parts of the highway that felt like I was driving on the ocean. There were people surfing. There were some points on the highway that allow you to go into the ocean and just take a swim or dive. I did stop in the middle of the highway to snorkel. There were so many colorful fish as you go down and deeper into the ocean. Very beautiful fish. The beach was also save because I left my belongings on the branches of a nearby tree and nobody stole it even though there were people chilling on the beach.

The road to Hana is a very narrow and windy adventure. You will come across lots of lookouts, a…read morehidden lava cave, a few snack shacks, hikes, and several waterfalls all right along the highway. If you want to go all the way to the town, you'll be spending the majority of the day getting there and back. But if you just want to get a hike in and see all the waterfalls, it'll take half the day. Also there are no street lights, and it can start raining, so if you want to make it back before sundown, get out there early. Most of the road is through a tight & curvy mountain highway with lots of one car bridges. You'll be going between 10-20 mph for miles and miles. You may even see an accident like we did. There is a reason why they coined the phrase "I survived the Road To Hana." I have taken a tour out here, and driven it myself in rental cars, and I recommend both. Although if you're a hesitant driver, or if you get car sick, it might not be the road to take. It's an amazing experience though, and I will always make it out here when visiting the island of Maui.

A little known fact is the US Coast Guard has a crew , Small ship and a ships store…read more My goal after the Whale Watch was to get a Coast Guard Tee shirt. The crew just returned and i was able to get what it. You have to be invited in. But it's worth it, no tax Unique !!

Lots of little shops and a few restaurants. Catch the whale boats here. Costs $3 an hour to…read morepark(before 5) you use a qr code in the parking lot. Wish it was free parking durring the day (why 1 less star)

Hawaii MauiEast Lahaina Pali Trail Difficulty: 5 stars…read more This trail is 5 miles long and height of 1600 ft. We saw the sign on our way driving back to hotel around noon and thought we could continue hiking a bit, so we turned back to park. Some people parked directly by the roadside sign, but that area is not a parking lot (you might get towed). You can drive straight into the right parking lot (saves a lot of walking). There's a sign at the entrance warning that this is a difficult rocky road (THE ZIGZAGIEST ROAD) with a quote from a tourist in 1847: "All the way zigzag and winding, up steep, rocky and barren precipices. CHESTER LYMAN". It was indeed a bit challenging, especially since we weren't wearing proper hiking shoes. The path was steep with rocks of all sizes all the way (easily to get your ankle twisted), and the midday weather was really hot. This was a very exposed hiking route, literally with no shade and no wind! There were no markings along the way, but it was relatively easy to just follow the trail. We walked, rested, and drank water intermittently. There was no cell phone signal along the way. We thought we could continue but after 1 hour hike, my husband asked me to think about heading back since we didn't know how much we need to walk and at that point and we still were not too tired to head back. So we checked how long it would take to complete the trail. We had been walking for over an hour and it seemed like we had only hiked around 1/4 to 1/5 of the entire trail! There are two starting points, east and west. We started from the east, but Google Maps couldn't display the walking route and estimated time!! If coming on the other end from the west, Google estimated it to be 2.4 miles. (about an hour and half without resting) which means the entire east-west one-way trail is 5 miles. Round trip would be 10 miles !There's no way we could finish before sunset walking to the west and back to the east parking lot! Looking at the seemingly distant yet close windmills and not knowing how far we still had to hike, and also having not encountered anyone, so we decided it's okay to just head back. That's how hiking is, I think. Enjoy the hike but don't force ourselves to do what we couldn't do! Our plan for the whole day was quite spontaneous, and luckily we always brought at least 2 liters of frozen bottled water and 2 liters of a water bottle when going out. Otherwise, it would have been really difficult without enough water in such hot weather. The next day, both of us woke up with really sore legs, backs and waists. Ha Overall the view was beautiful and if we visit Maui next time, we will definitely hike here again but arriving earlier. East Lahaina Pali Trail Wailuku, HI 96793, United States

This is an excellent trail for almost 270 degree views of the island. It is also a thigh burner as…read moreyou climb up rocks the entire way to the windmills, and a knee burner on the way down. Be sure and go early in the morning before it gets hot and preferably on a partly cloudy and cool day as there is no shade. Lots of water and hiking boots with good tread are also needed. The first 5 minutes you are on an old asphalt road, which quickly gives way to a well maintained and signed rocky trail. Views of the bay, towards the west and Kaho'olawe island and south are excellent. After about 2 miles you come to the windmills and the trail flattens out. You can continue on to the east, but we turned around and went back the same way as clouds were threatening.