Umauma Falls

Umauma Falls on the Umauma River north of Hilo is unusual in Hawaii for bringing three waterfalls close together. The falls are linked to Mauna Kea’s long volcanic formation, whose layers of ash and lava erode unevenly and helped shape the river’s course, nearby soils, and the falls themselves. Heavy rainfall and erosion continue to carve plunge pools, move boulders, collapse undercut rock, and slowly drive the falls upslope; over longer periods, such processes can merge multiple falls into one. For much of recent history the site was reached only by walking the riverbed, until Walter L. Wagner created the present overlook in 1995 and opened it in 1996.

Paauilo, Hawaii · United States