Akaka Falls State Park

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Akaka Falls
Akaka Falls on Kolekole Stream
Location:	Hilo, Hawai‘i, United States
Type:	Plunge
Total Height:	422 feet (129 m)
Longest Single Drop:	422 feet (129 m)
Number of Drops:	1
Average Flow Rate:	unknown
World Height Ranking:	612

‘Akaka Falls State Park is a state park in Hawai‘i, located 11 miles north from Hilo (at the end of Highway 220) on the Island of Hawai‘i. It includes ‘Akaka Falls, a 442 ft. tall waterfall. ‘Akaka is the Hawaiian name for this feature. “‘Akaka” means "A rent, split, chink, separation; to crack, split, scale". The accessible portion of the park lies high on the right shoulder of the deep gorge into which the waterfall plunges, and the falls can be viewed from several points along a loop trail through the park. Also visible from this trail is Kahūnā Falls.

Local folklore describes a stone located here called Pōhaku a Pele that, when struck by a branch of lehua ‘āpane, will call the sky to darken and rain to fall (Pukui, Elbert, & Mookini, 1974). Lehua ‘āpane or ‘ōhi‘a ‘āpane is an ‘ōhi‘a tree (Metrosideros polymorpha) with dark red blossoms.

‘Akaka Falls is located on Kolekole Stream. A large stone in the stream about 70 ft upstream of the falls is called Pōhaku o Kāloa (Pukui, Elbert, & Mookini, 1974).

[edit] References

Akaka Falls

Pukui, Mary Kawena, Samuel H. Elbert, and Esther T. Mookini. 1974. Place Names of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 289 pp. (ISBN 0-8248-0524-0)
Pukui, Mary Kawena, Samuel H. Elbert, 1986. Hawaiian Dictionary. The University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 572 pp. (ISBN 0-8248-0703-0)