Friday, October 21, 2005
Stop # 1
Wailuku River State Park - Rainbow Falls
Rainbow Falls is located on the northern edge of Hilo, on the Wailuku River. The Wailuku river runs through Hilo and empties into Hilo Bay. Rainbow Falls is a knickpoint, an oversteepened portion of a river. The river is actively eroding back the landscape from the cliffs at Hilo Bay, leaving a bedrock gorge behind.
Map from http://www.mapquest.com/
The sign at the entrance
Rainbow Falls from the main observation point. Note the vegetation line on the gorge wall - the river is very low in this picture.
A view of the river just above the falls. The falls can be seen on the far right side of the picture.