Mānoa Falls Trail is a trail on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The trail is a part of the Honolulu Makau Trail System, and leads to a popular 150 foot

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

called Manoa Falls. Hiking the trail is approximately a one-hour round trip. Many tourists are attracted to the waterfall and scenery throughout the trail. The trails have a history as one of the earlier Hawaiian trails. There are many legends of the Night Marchers, or ancient Hawaiian warriors associated with Manoa Falls. Scenes in movies such as ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'' and '' Catching Fire'' were filmed at Manoa Falls. The Manoa Falls trail harbors many plant species and tropical birds as well. The Lyon Arboretum, located in the Manoa Valley at the base of the trail is another popular tourist attraction and aims to preserve endangered Hawaiian plants. Some may say that this trail is "Easy". However, there is currently no formal way of rating trails. Therefore, since the trail can be very slippery when wet the rating can be subjective. Thus, users should use caution on any trail and turn around if not comfortable. Rain showers are very common on the trail and the path to the waterfall is often muddy and slippery. Flash floods may also occur at any time. Swimming in the pools of water on the trail is highly discouraged due to the threat of

Leptospirosis Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacterium ''Leptospira'' that can infect humans, dogs, rodents and many other wild and domesticated animals. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, Myalgia, muscle pains, a ...

Location

Manoa Falls Trail

The Manoa Falls Trail is a 1.6 mile trail (round trip) that is a part of the Honolulu Makau Trail System, which consists of 17 other trails in close proximity. The Manoa Falls trail also includes the Manoa Valley, and the Lyon Arboretum. Many people hike the trail to see the Manoa Falls, a 150-foot

that empties into a small pool of water. The location is often referred to as the "Rainbow Valley", because of the frequent

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

s. The Manoa valley and the surrounding area is considered a

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

. The Manoa Falls Trail is very humid and frequent rain showers throughout the area are very common. This climate allows for an abundance of plants and wildlife. The trail, specifically near the waterfall is normally damp and muddy.

Manoa, Oahu

The Manoa Falls trail is located in the valley of

Manoa Manoa (, ; ) is a valley on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. It is a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from ...

which receives rain almost every day resulting in the valley being richly vegetated. Rainbows are common and is a source of The University of Hawaii at Manoa sport teams names, the Rainbow Warriors (men) and Rainbow Wahines (women). College students visit the Manoa Falls trail often for research and educational purposes.

Nearby Trails

The Manoa Falls trail is part of the Honolulu Mauka Trail System. This system consists of 18 trails surrounding the Honolulu area. # Tantalus Arboretum Trail (0.25 mi / 0.4 km) # Kanealole Trail (0.7 mi / 1.1 km) # Maunalaha Trail (0.7 mi / 1.1 km) # Nahuina Trail (0.75 mi / 1.2 km) # Makiki Valley Trail (1.1 mi / 1.8 km) # Ualaka’a Trail (0.5 mi / 0.85 km) # Moleka Trail (0.75 mi / 1.2 km) # Manoa Cliff Trail (2.3 mi / 3.7 km) # Pu’u Ohia Trail (0.75 mi / 1.2 km) # Pauoa Flats Trail (0.75 mi / 1.2 km) # Nu’uanu Trail (1.5 mi / 2.4 km) # Judd Trail (0.75 mi / 1.2 km) # Aihualama Trail (1.3 mi / 2.1 km) # Manoa Falls Trail (0.8 mi / 1.3 km) # Kolowalu Trail (1.0 mi / 1.6 km) # Wa’ahila Trail (2.4 mi / 0.6 km) # Pu’u Pia Trail (0.75 mi / 1.2 km) # Kalawahine Trail (1.5 mi / 2.4 km) White-rumped shama2

Ecology

Tropical birds such as the Shama, a chestnut colored bird with a black and white tail inhabit the trails. The trail also contains many

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s, ginger plants, banyan trees, eucalyptus trees, bamboo trees, and hau trees. The hau trees can be distinguished by their flowers which are bright yellow with a dark red center, very similar to those of other

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

species.

History and culture

The Manoa Falls Trail was one of the earlier Hawaiian trails and it was most likely used for hunting, bathing, gathering plants, and wood. The wood found on the trails was used by earlier Hawaiians for making canoes, the bark was sometimes used for sandals, and the tree sap was used as a

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

Night marchers

Stories and legends have long been linked to Manoa Falls. The legend of the Night Marchers is one of the most evocative. The Night Marchers, or the Phantom Marchers are said to be the Spirits of Ancient Hawaiian Warriors. As the legend tells, the direct path of the Night Marchers is the

Banyan Tree A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial root#"Stranglers" (prop-root), adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...

located in the beginning of the Manoa Falls Trail. It is said the Night Marchers haunt the Manoa Falls Trail and the sounds of banshee screams can be heard as you hike the trail.

Appearance in movies and television series

In the movie Jurassic Park Manoa Falls was used was a filming location. Additionally, Manoa Falls was used as a filming location in the movie Catching Fire, featured as the film's jungle arena. Manoa Falls was also used to film scenes in the television shows '' Lost'' and '' Hawaii Five-0 ''.

Deaths and injuries

On April 12, 2012, Phillip S. Mann from Scottsmoor, FL fell down the falls during an evening hike alone. Hikers heard cries for help that evening, but search parties did not locate a person. The following day, hikers discovered his body at the bottom of the river bed. The young man likely died on impact. On June 15, 2016 19-year-old Kristi Takanishi, a 2015 valedictorian from Kaiser high school in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii, fell from the top of Manoa Falls and died two days later. Sources say she was taking pictures with friends when she slipped and fell off the edge, 200 ft down the waterfall into the small pool of water. Cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.

Tourism

Manoa falls is the second most popular trail on the island of

. There is less water in the waterfall during the summer months. Also, in addition to the Manoa Falls Trail, many tourists visit the other trails in the Honolulu Mauka Trail System. Students at

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

also visit the trail for research and educational purposes.

Risks

There are signs throughout the trail that warn visitors of risk of

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

in the water, and possible

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

s. The Hawaiian State Department of Health discourages swimming and wading in the small pools surrounding the trail and waterfall. This is because of a bacterial disease called

, which is common in

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...

s such as Hawaii and is found in

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

. The disease can be passed down from animals to humans, and

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s and

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

are the most common sources in Hawaii. The disease can cause mild to moderate

flu-like symptoms Influenza-like illness (ILI), also known as flu-like syndrome or flu-like symptoms, is a medical diagnosis of possible influenza or other illness causing a set of common symptoms. These include fever, shivering, chills, malaise, dry cough, loss ...

that can last for up to 1 to 2 weeks.

Lyon Arboretum

Located in the Manoa Valley section of the Manoa Falls Trail, the Lyon Arboretum contains over 5000 plant species. Some of the plant species include,

heliconia ''Heliconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku (province), ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

aroids The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also k ...

bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

, and other native Hawaiian plants. The

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

works to preserve and restore Hawaii's tropical forests, and many endangered plant species. It also functions as both research and academic resources by providing different programs that develop innovations to restore endangered native Hawaiian plants.

Rainbows End Snack Shop

Near entrance to Manoa Falls Trail is a snack shop called Rainbow's End. Hikers pay for vehicle parking ($7 per vehicle, $4 for Hawaii residents with I.D.), pick up forgotten equipment, or food.

References

{{Reflist Hiking trails in Hawaii