Pīpīwai Banyan Tree

Pīpīwai Banyan Tree is a broad, trailside banyan on the Pīpīwai Trail in Haleakalā's Kīpahulu District. It's a memorable place to slow down, but think of it as one stop along a longer hike, not the hike's finish. The same route continues to the bamboo forest and Waimoku Falls, so the tree makes most sense if you're already heading farther in.

A banyan sends aerial roots down from its long branches. Once they reach the ground, they thicken into extra supporting trunks, giving the canopy its wide, almost scaffold-like shape. Look across the branches and down at their rooted columns; that's the detail that makes this tree more interesting than a big trunk alone.

There's no separate access to the tree: reach it on Pīpīwai Trail from the Kīpahulu trailhead. Its exact distance from the trailhead isn't settled, so don't plan around a mileage target. The full walk to Waimoku Falls and back is about 4 miles with 800 feet of climbing. The unpaved path has exposed rock and roots, stairs and steep grades, and can get muddy or slippery after rain. Shoes with good grip help on the uneven climb.

Food and gas aren't available in the park, so arrive with water and anything you want to eat. For a photo, stay on the trail and frame the horizontal limbs with the root-columns below; that shows how the canopy keeps spreading back to the ground.