Waipio Valley lookout parking + What’s the parking like? 🌴 Big Island Hawaii travel blog

ALOHA!

 

Waipio Valley is one of the great coastal valleys on the north side of the Big Island.

You can make this a part of your scenic drive around the Big Island!

Waipio Valley is among the famous views of the Big Island that you’ve probably seen.

And you can get those famous views with a short walk from the parking area.

So, there’s no real hiking involved if you want to see the grand coastal views from above!

 

 

But if you do want to get some more views, there’s a road near the Waipio Valley Lookout that goes down to sea level where there’s a beach.

BUT, this isn’t just any road! It’s a STEEP road, and it’s one of the Big Island roads in which a 4wd is required.

 

 

Or, if you won’t be renting a jeep or some other 4×4 vehicle, or you just don’t want to drive it, then you can also hike down to sea level!

 

 

 

Even if you’re not interested in walking all the way down to the beach, if you hike for 10 minutes or so (or less) you can get to another great lookout spot of coastal views.

So to hike to this second Waipio Valley lookout, you may want to give yourself a total of 30 minutes or so round trip. (The way back is UP so it might take a little longer!)

 

 

 

IMPORTANT!!! Waipio Valley Road is CLOSED.

As of spring 2022, Waipio Valley Road is CLOSED due to a “geotechnical assessment.”

Read the news story.

Waipio Valley Road is the “BEYOND” part, the road beyond the Waipio Valley Lookout.

You do NOT need to drive (or hike) Waipio Valley Road in order to go to the Waipio Valley Lookout.

So you can still go see the famous Waipio Valley from above.

You just can’t go beyond the Waipio Valley Lookout if Waipio Valley Road is closed.

Check for updates before you go.

At some point in the future, Waipio Valley Road may be accessible to tourists through a Waipio Valley tour.

Watch the news story.

 

More below about driving to the Waipio Valley Lookout parking area!

 

 

🌴

 

 

 

So…

Here’s a bit of what the Waipio Valley Lookout is like!

Waipio Valley is in the far north of the Big Island, and a spot where not many other things are located. Waipio Valley is a part of the Hilo Hamakua Heritage Coast.

Waipio Valley is basically the one end of this Hilo Hamakua Heritage Coast, with the town of Hilo being the other end!

 

 

Hilo to Waipio Valley is about a 1 hour drive, maybe just a little bit more.

Kailua-Kona to Waipio Valley is about a 1.5 hour drive.

The day that you go to Waipio Valley, you can make it a valley lookout kind of day! You can visit the Waipio Valley lookout and the Pololu Valley lookout on the same day.

The drive between these two valley lookouts is around 1.5 hours.

Both of these valley lookouts are also the starting location of hikes down to beach, so you can also make it a one day of hiking to the Big Island valley beaches too!

 

 

Trip to Waipio Valley Lookout

As you are driving, once you get closer, you’ll start to see signs for Waipio and Waipio Valley.

 

 

Then once you get even closer to the Waipio Valley lookout, you may start to see cars parked along the side of the road.

 

 

And then basically you will be driving to a dead end.

There’s a small parking lot at the end of the road. If you will only be going to the Waipio Valley lookout, or if you will later be driving down to the Waipio Valley beach, then you can look for parking in the parking lot. Because this parking lot is reserved for 30-minute parking, if you’ll be hiking, you don’t want to park here.

 

 

If you will be hiking, or if the parking lot at the end of the road is full, you can park along the side of the road before that dead end parking lot too. Watch out for the “no parking” signs here.

 

 

And then from the Waipio Valley parking lot, you’ll see the short path down to the Waipio Valley lookout! There are also bathrooms near the Waipio Valley lookout.

 

 

Take the trail to the Waipio Valley Lookout and take in the views!

 

 

After you have taken in views from the Waipio Valley lookout, you can then head down the road to Waipio Valley beach that you’ll see near the lookout, or head out for another Big Island activity!

See things to do in Hilo and more things to do on the Big Island!

 

And that’s a bit about what you’ll see from the Waipio Valley Lookout parking area!

 

If you’re interested in the Waipio Valley Lookout, you may also be interested in these Big Island activities:

• Waipio Valley beach
• Pololu Valley Lookout
• Pololu Valley beach
• Akaka Falls loop trail
• Kua Bay
• Kealakekua Bay

 

HAPPY DRIVING TO THE WAIPIO VALLEY LOOKOUT!