Ka'au Crater Trail

"5/14/2025
wild trail! mud and rocks were very slippery, it was a wet day (rained for about 10 minutes just before i started). kind of treacherous climbing the trail beside the 3rd waterfall all the way back and around the crater. the side trail for waterfall #3 is a slick muddy surface. At one point, i spent 10 minutes trying to get up a few steps because i kept sliding back down. plenty of class 2 scrambling, and probably occasionally some class 3. there were a few extra difficult spots for me to climb up from the top of the 3rd waterfall until the summit (short lady). That part is also just mud. The ridge return after the crater was more moderate until it joins back up with the main trail. My legs got all scraped up, i was quite muddy, and very wet. I still wouldn’t choose to wear pants though. Countless stream crossings and ropes. Really is a ‘hard’ level trail, requires some route finding, cautious footing, upper and lower body strength, mental fortitude. It’s got all the typical riskiness of a Hawaiian hike and then a lot more. Saw 7 other people. took me 8h 15 min. Used 2.5L water and ran out about 5 minutes before the trailhead. Saw 1 boar.. it ran away."

Melinda Luber

"There is difficult hiking and there there is Hawaii difficult. As soon as you enter the trail you’re facing giant boulders and river crossings. We planned on doing all 3 waterfalls plus the crater. Got to the second waterfall, went up via ropes but then halfway up we could not find more rope to climb. We tried without but the verticality of the trail and the mud just didn’t allow us to continue. The mud didn’t bother us as dirt but it did make things difficult and slow as we tried to not fall every few meters. What’s not great about the trail is that it doesn’t allow you to take in the scenery. You really have to stop and look around. While walking you really have to focus on your feet so you don’t make mistakes that could hurt you. I don’t recommend the hike to people who are not prepared with good shoes, lots of water, and don’t want to get dirty."

Adriana Y

"06/11/2025
This was a super challenging yet amazing hike! My mom and I hiked this trail together as our last day activity in Hawaii, and it was definitely a highlight! The trailhead is a little difficult to find, just look for the sign on the tree, and to park, you just have to find somewhere around the neighborhood. It rained pretty much the entire time we hiked, which made the trail a lot more difficult and muddy. It is unmaintained, which means that there will be a lot of bushwhacking through plants of all kinds, and you will most likely get extremely muddy. I would recommend to wear long pants, I wore some leggings that only covered half of my legs and I got really scratched up. At the third waterfall, there’s the option to either rope climb up the waterfall or go on a small, extremely unmaintained path next to it, which is the option that we chose. The trail that we chose is still extremely difficult, though! There was a lot of slipping and I almost fell down the trail at some point, but a log that was jutting out caught me in the small fall. The crater at the top is beautiful, and after seeing the crater, there is the option to either take the return trail back down the ridge, or go on the trail that will have you summit the peak and then hike the entire crater ridgeline. We personally chose to summit the peak and then hike the entire ridge, but I would only recommend that to extremely experienced hikers! Please be safe, it’s a very fun, but also very dangerous hike that people have to get rescued off of every month!! Bring lots of water and wear adequate shoes, even if it hasn’t rained, it will still be muddy! Overall, we hiked around 7.5 miles and it took us around 9 hours, so plan for all day if you’re doing the full thing!"

Madison Mannino