Lulumahu Falls is a gorgeous, easy waterfall hike located on the Pali of O’ahu. The hike has some gorgeous views of the Koolau Mountains and offers some incredible photo-ops with waterfalls.

Parking for Lulumahu Falls

The trailhead is off the Pali Highway on the right hand side if you’re coming from town. Parking is where the Pali Drive empties onto the Pali Highway. The trailhead can also be found on Google Maps for further assistance. When I did this hike it was during the summer but because Hawaii has such high levels of moisture, especially in the Nuuanu area, this parking area was especially muddy.

The hike gets muddier though, so if you’re not into getting dirty, I wouldn’t recommend this. I took my little white poodle on this and he wasn’t white after the hike. However, most waterfall hikes come with a muddy disclaimer so you should be used to this by now if you’re an avid hiker. It’s definitely worth it though.

wall in paradise

This is the wall you’ll see before you enter the tropical forest.

Lulumahu Falls Trailhead & Trail information

After parking, the trailhead is to the back of the parking lot, through a big hole in the fence at the Water supply board. Once you get going on the trail, you’ll see a lot of bamboo forests.

bamboo forest

You’ll walk down a pavement guided by bamboo forest.

After 100 yards down the path you’ll see the trail to Lulumahu Falls taking a left, follow this through more bamboo forests and after you come out of the forest you’ll come across some stone steps that look a little creepy. Your ultimate goal after the forest is to get up onto the service road that leads to the mountains. Follow this road to the right toward the mountains.

Once you get into the shrubbery at the foot of the mountains, there will be trail markers to Lulumahu Falls along the way.

Keep following these and you’ll come across another section of the water supply system that meets up with the stream. You’re going to be following this stream all the way to the foot of Lulumahu Falls. This is definitely the muddiest section of the hike, and the wettest. But once you’re at this point, just know that you’re almost there! This is the last leg of the hike. Once you reach the waterfall, make sure to take advantage of the moment take some awesome pictures! It really is a gorgeous site to see. This is an in-n-out trail so after you’ve reached the trail you can just head back the way you came in.

waterfalls

My friends and I at the end of the hike!

Favorite part of Lulumahu Falls

My favorite part about this hike is how gorgeous the scenery is along the hike. Some waterfall hikes are only pretty once you reach the waterfall, but this one was gorgeous along the entire route. I did this with my hiking crew or “adventure crew,” (although we’re pretty amateur adventurists compared to some people in Hawaii.) We really enjoyed the hike. It was pretty easy and it was cloudy on the day we did it, so heat wasn’t an issue. This is definitely a kid-friendly and dog-friendly hike and I highly recommend it, one of the best waterfall hikes I’ve done! It’s right up there with my favorite waterfall hike, Maunawili Falls.

girl and dog

Spuds and I taking a selfie!