Iao Valley State Park: It's NOT the Same Kind of "Tropical" You've Seen Before!

Our trip to the 6.2 acre Iao Valley State Park was absolutely fantastic! We had decided to go here in search of some good hiking and sightseeing and we were NOT disappointed!

The cool thing about Iao Valley State Park is that it has a completely different feel than the other wet tropical areas of Maui.

How was it different?

This rain-soaked valley is one of the wettest spots in the state of Hawaii - I assumed this meant the vegetation would be of the tropical type found in East Maui near Hana. I couldn't have been more wrong! It WAS tropical, but it felt a bit like the rainforest areas of British Columbia, Canada... a lot of the vegetation reminded me of the type I'd seen there - shrub-type plants with the small leaves! But I knew I couldn't possibly be in my home country of Canada because these shrub-type plants were mixed in with the large-leafed glistening tropical plants that are found in Maui!

We'd seen the typical tropical-jungle-type of vegetation when we hiked the Pipiwai Trail in east Maui - Iao Valley felt more like a tropical FOREST than a jungle... that's the best way I can think of to describe the difference...

Upon entering the park, we headed to the Hawaii Nature Center where we would start our guided hike through the forests of the park. The price they charged was reasonable, and made even more so by our coupon from the Entertainment Book. The fee charged for the guided hike also included free admission to their Interactive Science Arcade.

Nature Center Guided Hike

Other than the small footpath we were following, the forested area that we hiked through felt wild and untouched! I could understand why it was so perfectly preserved when our guide explained that tourists are not allowed to hike that area unless they are with a guide. The only people who can hike here without paying are those who already LIVE on Maui. Also, camping is not allowed in this area, but sometimes people sneak in anyways and just set up their tents - in fact, as we hiked, we saw a couple who looked like they were preparing to do exactly that - they had huge heavy packs on their backs - there's no way those supplies were for just for a small hike!

The hike we went on here was only a couple of hours long at most - it's the perfect length of hike if you only have half a day to spend here in Iao Valley State Park.

As we hiked, our guide took us to a part of the trail along the Iao Stream.

Iao Stream in Iao Valley State Park, Maui

Walking alongside Iao Stream was so peaceful! The only sounds were the birds chirping, water gurgling over the rocks, and the crunch of our feet on the ground! All the while, we were surrounded by the beauty of Iao Valley... it was truly nature at its very best!

Our guide took us through the forest to a great little spot where we could view the Iao Needle (a.k.a. Kuka'emoku). This is a famous Maui landmark in the Iao Valley State Park that rises 1200 feet above the floor of Iao Valley. If you're measuring from sea level, the Iao Needle is 2250 feet high!

Iao Needle in Iao Valley State Park, Maui

This nifty natural wonder formed from a long gone volcano. It's amazing to me the variety of landmarks that those volcanoes can create!

On our way back down the trail to the Nature Center, we asked our guide about the poisonous centipede species that we'd heard lives on Maui. He offered to try to find one for us so we could see what it looked like. Although I'm terrified of creepy-crawly things, I figured that since this was the ONE poisonous living thing on Maui, it would be good to "know my enemy," so I jumped at the chance to see one! After poking around a bit on the forest floor, our guide finally found us our poisonous centipede! He lifted up a large leaf from the forest floor, and this huge orange-ish centipede froze and stood still... our guide poked it with a stick, and it scurried off out of sight. I wish I'd been able to take a picture of it for you to see, but the darned thing ran off before I got a chance! Now that I'd actually SEEN this poisonous thing, it didn't seem quite as scary to me... I was also relieved when our guide told us that although its bite would hurt a LOT, it was highly unlikely to be fatal. Whew! Of course, if one WAS bitten by one of these things, it would be a good idea to see a doctor as a precaution!

Well, they say all good things come to an end, and our guided hike through Iao Valley State Park was now over. But, we still had more to see in Iao Valley before we headed back to our resort for the evening: State Park Botanical Gardens, the Gifi Shop, and the Tropical Gardens of Maui.

For more ideas on things to do, check out my Top 10 Things to do in Maui for Adventure!

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