it was a beautiful day for viewing the needle
there are short trails around the park but NO hiking trails
sunshiny day
Each time we visit Maui we are in awe of the stunning, lush valleys that you can find on the island. One of our favorites is the one that houses the Iao Needle. It is easy to get to from any where on the island and only costs $5 / per vehicle to enter the park. One of the bonuses of going to the needle si that you get to drive through historic Wailuku, one of my favorite communities on Maui. It is a lush region with a lot of the island’s history. The Iao Needle is 1,2oo feet tall and is a lush green rock outcropping that rises above a local river to an elevation of 2250 feet.
this is looking back towards Wailuku and the ocean. You can see how far up the valley we were
Kuka’emoku as it is known in Hawaiian is an “erosional remnant. It is at the end of a ridge comprised of denser dike stone. The softer rock around the dike stone was eroded by steams and waterfall” reads one of the informational signs at the site. 
This area is beautiful and full of history in this area. In 1790 there was the Battle of Kepaniwai. The needle was a lookout point for King Kamehameha as he beat the Maui army; changing the course of history on Maui.
Last time we were here, the needle was in a fog/cloud as it gets a lot of weather changes in this area, but this visit was perfect, it helped that we went early.
timistravels 
Beautiful spot, I miss it
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