A Hike to Pololu Valley on the Big Island of Hawaii

On my 2020 trip to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii, we stayed a week on the Hawaii's Big Island in Waikoloa Beach. My wife and I were looking for a hike to kill a few hours while our friends played golf, so we took a drive along the northern coast. Our destination was a black sand beach called Pololu that lays at the mouth of a small river flowing out of the Pololu Valley. My research tells me that the massive cliffs towering above the black sand beach were formed when the Kohala volcano collapsed into the sea about 250,000 years ago. The black sand is one of the remnants of the volcano and its lava flows having been pounded to small particles since the collapse.

There are a few things to consider before visiting Pololu Valley and the black sand beach. You start at the top of those massive cliffs overlooking the beach and you wind back and forth on switchbacks for about a mile to get to the bottom.

And what goes down must also go back up. And believe me, it is a lot slower going back up.

Other considerations include no water, no bathrooms at top or bottom, so come prepared and be willing to act like a bear in the woods if nature calls. Fortunately, nature didn't call for me while I was on the hike. And also fortunately, an enterprising young couple were selling bottles of water out of the trunk of their car for a surprisingly reasonable sum considering they were the only game in town.

Along the way, you will occasionally get some great views looking down to your destination, so keep your camera out.

The spot where the photo below was taken at the edge of a cliff that goes pretty much straight down to the beach so don't back up when you are posing for a picture here.

Once you get to the bottom, you'll find a short trail to take you up river so you can get a view of the Pololu Valley. It looks like you've stepped into a prehistoric landscape right out of Jurassic Park.

Heading back to the beach, you'll get your feet wet as you walk through the shallow area of the river as it flows out to the beach. From there, looking left you'll see the cliffs you just climbed down. You'll get to see them up close again very soon.

And looking right, you have the long expanse of black sand beach littered with smooth river rocks. You can see a couple of little islands below the big cliff off in the distance.

We walked down the beach to get a closer look at the rock cliff and the small islands, hung out for a while, and then headed back up the trail we came down on. The hike back up wasn't as bad as we expected and we burned a few extra calories that we could replace at the Hawaiian luau were were attending that evening. I hope you enjoyed seeing Pololu Valley and its black sand beach.