LuLuMahu Falls "Hidden Place" from 3 hikes in 3 days in Honolulu




LuLuMahu Falls (meaning hidden place) is a short hike on private land off the Pali Highway in the Nuunau Valley outside of Honolulu Hawaii. June 22nd 2017 was a cloudy and at times drizzly day and there is an old story about the Nuuana Valley where it rains often. A local was giving directions to his house and said "go up the valley to where it's raining and my house is the second on the left".  We contemplated breaking local laws by entering a water reservoir area (you go through a hole in chain link fence) and King Kamehameha's II old summer grounds.We were reassured by our Uber driver and a parking lot full of fellow hikers that it was ok.

We were counseled to follow the river and the trick was to find the river through the bamboo forest. The wind picked up and soon the bamboo was knocking together along the trail. One wrong turn and we double backed to stay on the gravel path to our left and soon came out into a clearing where crews were repairing a draw bridge over the reservoir and didn't seem to mind tourists hiking by.

 As soon as we saw the Tagged wall we knew from online posts we were close to the stairs that lead up to the trail and another chain link fence, of course we wandered off in the wrong direction and found trial markers warning not to enter the area which meant we were close to the ruins of King Kamehameha's II Summer Palace, it was said that King Kamehameha II brought a constitutional democracy to Hawaii where actually President Dole the Pineapple planters was a signatorie of the first constitution. So up the stairs past the second chain link and you are hearing the river and onto the trail to the hidden place.

You will hobble over boulders and go back and forth across the stream before reaching Nirvana and a dip in the falls where it is customary to let the water massage your shoulders and pose for photos. I asked a local if we were close and he said go just past the shave ice stand and  replied I hope they have Wifi up there.

Remember go early, stay late, have fun and pack out what you pack in. Mahalo


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