Home/Trails

Explore Maui

Maui Hiking Trails

Maui hiking is absurdly varied: bamboo forest, crater floor, coastal lava, ridgeline cloud forest. Go early, carry water, and you will have most of it nearly to yourself.

Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US
0Trails in this guide
0Easy enough for anyone
0Free to hike
0Feet of Waimoku Falls

You can hike a different ecosystem every day of a Maui week. The Pipiwai bamboo forest feels like another planet, Sliding Sands drops you into a volcano, and Waihee Ridge climbs into cloud forest twenty minutes from a beach.

Island trail rules are simple: start early for cool air and parking, bring more water than seems reasonable, and check conditions after rain — Maui mud is its own difficulty rating. Every page below lists distance, difficulty and how the parking works.

Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US

01

Out-and-back ridgeline hike · About 45 minutes by car

Waihee Ridge Trail

Four miles, fifteen hundred feet of climb, and the closest most visitors will ever get to the green, folded heart of the West Maui mountains.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Kvarz71, CC BY-SA 4.0

02

Out-and-back through national park rainforest · About 2.5 hours via the Road to Hana

Pipiwai Trail

A giant banyan, a creaking bamboo cathedral, and a 400-foot waterfall at the end — the best four miles on the Road to Hana, and maybe on Maui.

Read the full guide →

03

Out-and-back into Haleakala crater · About 1 hr 45 min to the summit

Sliding Sands Trail

Walk off the summit rim and into a red-and-ochre world that looks borrowed from Mars — just remember every step down is a steeper step back up at 9,000 feet.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Jonathanking, CC BY-SA 3.0

04

Easy waterfall walk on private farm land · About 50 minutes by car

Twin Falls

Mile marker two of the Hana Highway: waterfalls you can actually reach, a farm stand worth the stop alone, and your first taste of East Maui jungle.

Read the full guide →
Photo: James Brennan, CC BY 3.0

05

Coastal walking path, out-and-back · About 55 minutes by car

Kapalua Coastal Trail

West Maui's easiest great walk — lava points, three beaches, winter whales, and not a single hill worth complaining about.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US

06

Paved oceanfront walking path · About 15 minutes by car

Wailea Beach Path

A mile and a half of paved oceanfront threading five beaches and a billion dollars of resort landscaping — free to everyone, best at sunrise.

Read the full guide →
Inside the bamboo on the Pipiwai Trail — the forest creaks like a shipPhoto: Aaron Zhu, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: KAP03, CC BY-SA 4.0

07

Historic coastal trail over lava fields · About 30 minutes by car

Hoapili Trail

A two-hundred-year-old royal road across Maui's youngest lava — raw, shadeless, silent, and fifteen minutes from the resort pools of Wailea.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Tom Walsh, CC BY-SA 3.0

08

Historic point-to-point over Kealaloloa Ridge · About 20 minutes to the Maalaea side

Lahaina Pali Trail

The old road over the pali: five steep, sun-blasted miles that pay out in channel views, wind-farm ridgelines and — in winter — whales seen from a thousand feet above them.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US

09

Out-and-back into Haleakala crater · About 1.5 hours by car

Halemauu Trail

The crater's back door: a trail that tiptoes along a cliff face into Haleakala's green northern gap — with an easy overlook version for the altitude-shy.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US

10

Forest loop trail · About 50 minutes by car

Kahakapao Loop

When the beach hits 88 and humid, upcountry Makawao offers this: 5.7 miles of cool, shaded forest loop at 3,000 feet, smelling like eucalyptus and rain.

Read the full guide →
Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0

11

Short coastal scramble to a blowhole · About 1 hr 15 min by car

Nakalele Blowhole

A sea geyser at the island's wild northern tip — spectacular, genuinely dangerous up close, and completely safe from exactly where you should stand anyway.

Read the full guide →

The eleven trails side by side

TrailDistanceDifficultyFrom the bungalowsBest forCost
Waihee Ridge TrailAbout 4 miles round tripModerate — steady climbing, muddy patchesAbout 45 minutes by carBig views, cloud forest, a real workoutFree
Pipiwai TrailAbout 4 miles round tripModerate — steady climb, roots and boardwalksAbout 2.5 hours via the Road to HanaBamboo forest, Waimoku FallsPark entry $30/vehicle, good 3 days
Sliding Sands TrailYour choice — 2 to 11 milesStrenuous — altitude plus the climb outAbout 1 hr 45 min to the summitVolcanic scenery unlike anywhere else on MauiPark entry $30/vehicle, good 3 days
Twin Falls1–2 miles round trip, mostly flatEasy — gravel road and short pathsAbout 50 minutes by carFirst Hana stop, easy waterfalls, smoothiesPaid parking (around ten dollars); walking in is the deal
Kapalua Coastal TrailAbout 1.75 miles each wayEasy — paved and boardwalk sectionsAbout 55 minutes by carEasy scenery, whale watching, golden hourFree, including parking
Wailea Beach PathAbout 1.5 miles each wayEasy — stroller and sandal friendlyAbout 15 minutes by carSunrise walks, whale watching, zero effortFree, including the access parking
Hoapili TrailAs far as you like — most do 2–4 milesModerate-hard — brutal footing, zero shadeAbout 30 minutes by carRaw volcanic coastline, solitude, historyFree
Lahaina Pali Trail~5 miles point to point, or out-and-back any lengthHard — steep, rocky, zero shadeAbout 20 minutes to the Maalaea sideSunrise fitness hikes, whale spotting from heightFree
Halemauu Trail2.2 to 7.8 miles round tripEasy to the rim; strenuous to the floorAbout 1.5 hours by carCrater views without the summit altitudePark entry $30/vehicle, good 3 days
Kahakapao LoopAbout 5.7 miles for the full loopModerate — smooth grades, some mudAbout 50 minutes by carShade, cool air, a proper leg-stretcherFree
Nakalele BlowholeAbout 1 mile round tripShort but steep, loose and roughAbout 1 hr 15 min by carRaw coastline, the blowhole showFree

Choosing a hike from Kihei

Four trails are easy enough for almost anyone: the paved Wailea Beach Path about fifteen minutes south, the Kapalua Coastal Trail in West Maui, the short walk at Twin Falls on the way to Hana, and the first stretch of Halemau’u to the crater rim. The hard ones are Lahaina Pali, whose Ma’alaea trailhead is about twenty minutes from the bungalows, Hoapili over the lava past La Perouse, and Sliding Sands into Haleakala crater.

Seven of the eleven cost nothing to hike. The three inside Haleakala National Park, Sliding Sands, Halemau’u and the Pipiwai Trail, use the park’s $30 private-vehicle pass, valid for three days. Twin Falls is on private farm land with paid parking.

Lahaina Pali and Hoapili have no shade at all, so start them at first light and carry more water than you think you need. For cool air, drive up to the Kahakapao Loop in the Makawao forest, about 50 minutes from Kihei, or climb into the cloud forest on Waihee Ridge, about 45 minutes away.

More to explore

Explore Maui

Maui Parks

Photo: Eric Tessmer, CC BY 3.0
Explore Maui

Maui Beaches

Photo: Rick Obst, CC BY 4.0
Explore Maui

Maui Restaurants

Photo: ImagePerson, CC BY-SA 4.0
Plan the trip

Maui Itineraries

Photo: Jonathanking, CC BY-SA 3.0

Stay With Us

Stay steps from Sugar Beach

Four beachside bungalows in North Kihei, hosted by Megan & Bryan since 2012.

See the bungalows Read guest reviews