The Muliwai Trail is a trail on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island of Hawaii that leads from Waipio Valley up and over to the beautiful secluded Waimanu Valley 

 The Muliwai Trail connected the Waimanu and Waipio Valleys together which allowed people that lived in these valleys to connect with one another.  This also helped the production of Taro, a product where Poi comes from which is a big part of the Hawaiian diet.

 There is a lot of evidence that the ancient Hawaiian inhabitants occupied the Waimanu Valley region and at times, these two valleys provided reliable sources of water to grow crops.

The full hike from the lookout of Waipio to Waimanu valley is just over 8 miles ( one way), but the Muliwai trail starts at the bottom of the Waipio valley and ends at the bottom of the Waimanu Trail. 

We hiked down and across the Waipio Valley and made it over to the beginning of the Muliwai trail in good time.  The hike up to the top of the plateau took around an hour of steep dried mud hiking, at times in the sun, while pushing away the foliage and stepping over rock piles. 

The trail is very easy to follow and we did not need a map to find our way around as the route was obvious but taking you time in the shade will save a bit of sweat. 

Once we got to the top we left the fantastic views of waipio Valley and entered this lush Midwest looking forest with abundant pine tree groves and other large trees.

This is the kind of hike where I wish I knew more about botany and could identify these beautiful ferns and plants that we passed by. 

The forest changed from a pine grove to trees that took up a lot of space.  It had a Midwestern maple forest like feel when hiking through here but than it would turn into more of a rain forest at other times.

We passed by pine trees that look like they are attempting to be palm trees and beautiful fern gardens along the trail.

We also passed by some fascinating fern trees that were some of the biggest that I have ever seen.

Make sure you bring your water filters but this will allow you to not have to carry as much water when hiking up as there will be places to refill water.

I believe that we passed around 12 switchbacks but I might not be accurate in that estimate.  It should be close enough to count and once you pass 12 switchbacks, than you should either be close to the respective valley you are heading to.

There is a shelter near the Waimanu valley drop in point on the trail so it is continuously raining and you want to get out of the wet weather than thee is a dry place that can be found. 

You will also notice some Helicopter landing pads along the way with a sign that will have distance markers notating how far you have gone and how much more you have left to go. 

After about 2-3 hours of hiking we noticed a roar from the breakwaters below in Waimanu valley and the massive valley below us.

There was around 1200ft of elevation loss to get down into the valley and .9 miles of steep muddy trail to walk over in order to get to the valley floor. 

The last segment of this trail is very muddy and slippery, especially with the standing trees shedding their bark on the trail.  This made for some extra slippery conditions in the rain so I highly recommend trekking poles if you are going to tackle this trail. 

Once we got down we could see the final river and this marked the end of the Muliwai trail.

Some people complete this hike just as a day trip and although I don't recommend that due to the fact that you will miss some much in the valley itself, if a day trip is your only option, than it is worth the hike by itself. 

Continuing on to our campsite in Waimanu valley became one of the most incredible camping experiences and I highly recommend reading about the Waimanu valley lifestyle.