Related: Road to Hāna Guide, Pīpīwai Trail Guide, Best Waterfalls in Hawaiʻi
Fifty-five.
That is how many cars fit in the dirt lot at Twin Falls Maui, and that one number shapes your whole morning. Car fifty-six gets a polite wave and a long, quiet drive toward the next waterfall.
Twin Falls sits at mile marker 2 of the Road to Hāna. That makes it the first waterfall stop on Maui’s most famous drive. Every rental car on Maui knows it.
The good news: it earns the attention. You get a short walk through a working farm, a waterfall close enough for keiki and grandparents, and a longer trail to a second falls upstream.
This guide covers the parking rules that get cars turned away, the hours, the trail, and the flood warnings worth taking seriously. We also get to the banana bread, because priorities.
Twin Falls Maui Quick Reference
📍 Twin Falls at Wailele Farm, 6300 Hāna Highway (Route 360), Haʻikū, HI 96708, at mile marker 2
Cost: $10 per car for parking, with no separate per-person fee listed.
Hours: gates open at 7:10 a.m., last entry is 4:30 p.m., and everyone needs to be off the property by 5:00 p.m.
Closed to visitors: the first Saturday of every month, which is reserved for Hawaiʻi residents.
Parking: 55 stalls, first come, first served, with no reservations.
Trail: a short, easy walk to the lower falls, and a little over a mile (about 1.6 km) round trip to the upper falls.
Links: the Twin Falls official site, the farm’s Instagram page for same-day closures, and the state’s Maui roadwork list.
We checked these details against the farm’s website on October 5, 2026.
A Working Farm That Lets the Public In
Twin Falls is a privately owned farm, and that surprises people who assume every waterfall on Maui belongs to a state park. The land belongs to Wailele Farm, which has kept its trails open to the public since 1997.
The farm covers 39 acres (about 16 hectares) of Hoʻolawa Valley, running from the parking lot up toward Haleakalā. Two streams come down out of the Koʻolau rainforest and cross the property on their way to the ocean.
The owners translate the valley’s name, Hoʻolawa, as providing and sharing in abundance so everyone has enough. Standing at the fruit stand with a cold coconut, you will find that easy to believe.
All that green comes from rain. Wailele Farm counts 80 to 100 inches (roughly 2,000 to 2,500 mm) a year. That is why the paths stay muddy and everything around you looks freshly watered.
More than 350 kinds of plants grow here, including banana, sugarcane, coconut, lilikoʻi, kalo, and ʻulu. The sky handles most of the watering for free.
No county or state money comes in to run the place. Your $10 parking fee, the fruit stand, and visitor donations pay for the trail work and the portable toilets.
From Cow Pasture to Rainforest Garden
The farm tells its own history on its website, and the story starts with a paniolo, a Hawaiian cowboy, from Makawao. His grandparents bought the original 100-acre (40-hectare) parcel in Huelo and ran cattle on it.
In 1955 that paniolo arranged to graze cattle here again, paying the land tax of about $180 a year as his rent. Picture tall grass, guava trees, and a rutted Jeep trail where the gravel road runs today.
Kids who grew up in the valley remember running from the cows and pelting each other with rotten guavas. The stream was where you rinsed off before your parents let you back in the car.
Wailele Farm bought the land in 1996, and its first six shareholders moved onto the property that fall. They laid gravel, planted fruit trees, and set a small fruit stand by the parking lot to keep watch.
Thirty years of planting changed everything. You now walk under giant bamboo and shade trees so thick that the family admits it feels good to find a sunny spot.
The crowds grew along with the trees. Their own estimate is 300 to 500 visitors on a slow day and more than 1,500 on a busy summer one.
Today the children of those first shareholders manage the farm and the trail. That family thread explains a lot about the rules you are about to read.
Parking: The 55 Stalls That Decide Your Day
Let’s talk parking first, because this is where good mornings go sideways. Twin Falls has one dirt lot beside the highway, with 55 paid stalls at $10 a car. You cannot reserve one.
Nobody likes rolling up to a full lot after half an hour of curves, and we get the frustration. Just know the attendants have a real reason for waving you on.
Hāna Highway is two narrow lanes here, and a line of stopped cars at the bridge is a hazard for everyone.
So the rules are strict, and enforced. Park anywhere along the highway or on a side road and you will be denied entry to the falls.
Don’t do it! Waiting on the shoulder for a stall to open counts too, and so does parking on the bridge or on the far side of it.
Rideshare will not save you either. Twin Falls does not work with Uber or Lyft, and walk-ins from the street are turned away. Your car has to be in the lot for you to reach the falls.
Traveling as a group in more than one car? Be sure to arrive before 8:15 a.m., because the crew may not be able to park your whole party after that.
Oversized vehicles cannot be accommodated right now, and a second lot is closed for construction. Leave the 15-passenger van for another day.
One more small kindness is asked of every driver: do not stop on the highway to quiz the attendants.
Pull in if there is room, keep rolling if there is not, and try again on your way back from Hāna.
Bring a little cash. The website does not spell out which payment types the attendants take, and a $10 bill beats finding out the hard way.
Empty the car before you walk away from it, too. The owners themselves warn that break-ins happen in the lot. Wallets and passports should come with you or stay at the hotel.
Hours, and the One Saturday a Month Visitors Sit Out
The gates open at 7:10 a.m., which is a wonderfully specific time. Last entry is 4:30 p.m., and you need to be walking out by 5:00 p.m.
Give yourself a cushion on the back end. Roll in at 4:25 p.m. and you have bought yourself a brisk jog to the lower falls and back. Funny way to spend $10.
Twin Falls is open daily with one big exception.
The first Saturday of every month is a Kamaʻāina Exclusive Day, closed to out-of-state visitors. Every adult needs a valid Hawaiʻi driver’s license to get in.
We love this policy. Residents get one quiet morning a month at a place that sees rental cars all day, and local families get the valley to themselves.
The next few fall on Saturday, November 7 and Saturday, December 5, 2026, then January 2, 2027. Check your dates before you build a Road to Hāna day around this stop.
Hours can also shift for weather, staffing, and holidays. High-water closures get posted on the farm’s Instagram and Facebook pages, so take 30 seconds to look before you leave the hotel.
Getting to Mile Marker 2
From Kahului, head east on Hāna Highway through Pāʻia, the little surf town where you should top off the gas tank and the coffee cup. Twin Falls is 15 to 20 minutes past town.
That works out to roughly 11 miles (18 km) beyond Pāʻia. Plan on about 35 minutes from the Kahului airport area when traffic behaves.
Your map app will spell it Hana Highway and Road to Hana, without the kahakō over the first a. Same road, same curves.
The mile markers are what trip up map apps and first-timers alike. Around mile marker 16 the highway changes from Route 36 to Route 360, and the numbers start over at zero.
So “mile marker 2” means the second one after the reset, where the road has already gone narrow and jungly. You will see a bridge, and beside it on the right, a big dirt lot with a fruit stand.
That lot is the only place to park. The entrance to the farm and the trail sits just to the left of the stand.
Expect some roadwork on the way, because Hāna Highway is always being patched somewhere. As of October 5, 2026, the state’s Maui roadwork list showed only routine daytime lane closures after Hurricane Nolo’s late September pass.
Staying in Kāʻanapali or Wailea? Add the cross-island drive and set that alarm early, since the lot fills on its own schedule and never on yours. Our where to stay on Maui guide breaks down which side of the island makes this morning easier.
The Lower Falls: A Short, Easy Walk
Walk past the fruit stand and through the gate, and the highway noise drops away fast. The path here is a wide gravel farm road shaded by giant bamboo and fruit trees, with the stream chattering somewhere off to your left.
The owners describe the lower falls as very close to the parking lot and relatively easy to reach. Other guides put it about a quarter mile (0.4 km) in, which is five unhurried minutes.
This is the stop for keiki, grandparents, and anybody still feeling last night’s mai tais. You get a real waterfall dropping into a pool framed by ferns. You barely had to earn it.
It is also the busiest corner of the property, especially between about 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Come at opening and you might share the pool with a handful of people and one very confident rooster.
The Upper Falls: Over a Mile, Through the Streambed
Keep walking and the outing becomes a hike. The farm’s FAQ puts the upper falls at over a mile (1.6 km) round trip, on trails that run through riverbeds and get slippery.
Hiking sites log the full out-and-back at 1.3 to 1.5 miles (2.1 to 2.4 km) with about 300 feet (91 m) of climbing. Give it an hour to an hour and a half with photo stops.
Roughly ten minutes in, the trail meets its first stream crossing, and this is your decision point. Calm, clear water means carry on.
Brown, loud, fast water means turn around. Nobody at the fruit stand will think less of you.
Past the crossing the path forks more than once. Stay on the marked, well-worn trails, since this is a working farm with homes tucked back in the trees.
The upper falls goes by Caveman, a nickname it earned from the dark rock hollow around its pool. Getting there usually means wading the stream near an old concrete irrigation structure, often up to your knees.
Those ditches and weirs belong to the old East Maui irrigation system, dug generations ago to carry mountain water to the sugarcane fields. You are basically hiking through plantation plumbing.
The water at Caveman is rarely clear enough to show you the bottom. Please skip the jumping, however many people on the rocks are daring each other.
The payoff for the extra effort is breathing room. Most visitors stop at the lower falls, so the upper trail feels like a different, quieter valley.
Flash Floods and Stream Water: The Serious Part
This walk is lovely, and we want you to respect it. These streams drain a rainforest that can dump inches of rain up the mountain while the sun shines on the parking lot.
Flash floods are common here, by the farm’s own account, and they arrive from uphill with little warning. Be prepared for that anywhere you hike near a stream in Hawaiʻi: blue sky overhead tells you nothing about the mountain above you.
So build in a quick check first. Look at the National Weather Service Honolulu forecast for any flood watch or advisory covering windward Maui, then check the farm’s Instagram.
On the trail, watch the water itself. A stream that turns muddy, rises, or starts carrying leaves and branches is telling you to get to high ground and stay out of the crossing.
Never race rising water back to the car. Waiting an hour on the bank is boring, and boring is a great outcome on a flood day.
The other freshwater caution is leptospirosis, a bacterial infection carried in streams and ponds across the islands. The Hawaiʻi Department of Health advises against swimming or wading in fresh water, especially with open cuts or sores.
Plenty of people swim at Twin Falls anyway, and that is your call to make. Just keep your head above water, stay out if you have a scrape, and never drink from the stream.
Feel like you caught the flu after a stream swim? Tell your doctor about the fresh water, since the health department says symptoms can show up anywhere from 2 days to 4 weeks later.
There are no lifeguards here. Like most stream hikes in Hawaiʻi, do not count on cell service once you drop into the valley.
Tell someone your plan and keep your group together.
What to Wear and Bring
Start with your feet. The trail is rocky, rooty, and slick after rain, so wear shoes that grip and that you do not mind soaking.
Leave the brand-new slippers in the trunk, and we say this with love. Mud here has a way of stealing one slipper mid-stride and keeping it as a souvenir.
Mosquitoes love this valley as much as the plants do, so bring repellent and put it on in the parking lot. Add a towel and drinking water for everybody, plus a dry shirt for the ride home.
Wear your swimsuit under your clothes, because we know of no changing rooms on site. The restrooms are portable toilets, so set expectations with the keiki before the walk.
A zip bag for your phone is worth the two seconds it takes to pack. Stream crossings and phones have a long, sad history together.
We could not find a posted policy on dogs or drones. Text the farm at 808-463-1275 before you bring either one, so nobody gets turned around at the gate.
The Farm Stand Is Half the Reason to Stop
The Twin Falls Farm Stand has been feeding hungry hikers since 1997, and it sits right at the edge of the lot. You will be eyeing the banana bread before you have found your car keys.
The farm stand menu leans on what grows nearby: fresh drinking coconuts, fresh-squeezed sugarcane juice, and smoothies made with that juice and local fruit. There is cold brew from Maui-grown Kāʻanapali Estate beans, too.
For something sweet, look for the banana bread and the handmade coconut candy. Coconut Glen’s non-dairy ice cream is on the menu as well, and all of it tastes extra ono after a muddy mile.
Seasonal fruit rotates through, so you might find apple bananas, papaya, mango, avocado, or lychee depending on the month. The stand also sells lilikoʻi butter and Maui honey, which both travel well in a suitcase.
The website lists no prices, so we will not guess at them. Bring a few small bills along with a card and you will be covered either way.
Our favorite way to use the stand takes zero hiking. Skip Twin Falls on a crowded morning and drive on toward Hāna. Pull in for a smoothie on the way home if a stall has opened up.
Watch the clock on that plan, since last entry is still 4:30 p.m.
When to Go
The lot is calmest in the first hour after the gates open and again later in the afternoon. The crush runs from about 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., when the Road to Hāna crowd comes through in a wave.
An early start has a second payoff. Morning light in the valley is soft and green, and the air is still cool. The mud has not yet been churned by a few hundred pairs of rental-car sneakers.
The falls run fullest after rain, which on this side of Maui can mean any month of the year. The wettest stretch usually lands between November and March, and drier summer weeks bring lower water and bigger crowds.
Rainy day on the schedule? Have a backup ready, because a flooded stream closes the trail no matter how far you drove. Our rainy day guide has ideas that do not involve a streambed.
Would You Rather Have a Guide?
Some people want the waterfalls without the parking roulette, and we respect that completely. A guided hike handles the lot, the route-finding, and the “is this stream safe” question in one booking.
Wailele Farm has worked with Hike Maui for decades, and the company’s small-group waterfall and rainforest hike lists Twin Falls on its itinerary. It runs about five hours and carried a 4.9 rating across nearly 1,500 reviews when we checked in October 2026.
Skipping the drive altogether? Browse the Road to Hāna van tours, and read each itinerary closely. Many of them pass Twin Falls with a wave and save their swim stops for farther down the road.
Our take: go guided if route-finding and stream judgment stress you out, or if your group includes first-time hikers. Go on your own if you can arrive early and you are comfortable turning around.
Making Twin Falls Part of a Bigger Day
Twin Falls works two ways. It can be a 90-minute stop at the start of a full Hāna day. It can also be the whole outing for a family that wants a waterfall without 600-plus curves.
For the half-day version, pair it with lunch and a wander in Pāʻia. On the drive back, pull into Hoʻokipa Beach Park to watch the windsurfers and look for honu resting on the sand.
For the full-day version, treat Twin Falls as the warm-up and keep moving. Our Road to Hāna guide lays out the stops worth your time, including the ones that need a reservation.
Going all the way to Kīpahulu? Save your legs, because the Pīpīwai Trail at the far end is the bigger hike of the day. Do the lower falls here and keep the upper trail for another trip.
A loose plan beats a packed one on this side of the island. Our three-day Maui itinerary can help you fit this stop around the rest of your trip.
Visiting With Aloha
Families live along this stretch of highway, and the farm is somebody’s home and livelihood. Small habits go a long way here.
Stay on the marked paths and pack out everything you carried in. Keep the music in your earbuds and leave the fruit on the trees, since the stand out front will happily sell you some.
Drive the last few minutes before the bridge like a neighbor. Pull over where it is safe to let faster local traffic pass, and skip the U-turns near the bridge, which are banned outright.
And say mahalo to the parking crew. They spend all day explaining the same rules to people who are hot, lost, and slightly carsick. A little patience from you goes further than you would guess.
Twin Falls Maui: Quick Answers
How long does Twin Falls take? Give the lower falls 30 to 45 minutes from car door to car door, and the upper falls an hour to an hour and a half.
Is Twin Falls free? Not quite. Nobody sells a ticket for the walk, but parking is $10 per car, and the lot is the only way in.
Do you need a reservation? No, and you cannot make one, since the 55 stalls are first come, first served.
Can you swim at Twin Falls? People do, at their own risk, with no lifeguard and the freshwater cautions above.
Is it good for small keiki? The lower falls is, with a hand to hold on the rocks. Strollers will struggle once the gravel road ends.
Our best advice is also the simplest. Be in that lot by 7:30 a.m. with a $10 bill, shoes that can get wet, and a backup plan.
Then follow the sound of the water, and save room for banana bread.
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