‘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.

A stone located here and called Pōhaku a Pele, 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 ‘ōhia ‘āpane is an ‘ōhia 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).

References

• Pukui, Mary Kawena, Samuel H. Elbert, and Esther T. Mookini. 1974. Place Names of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 289 pp. (ISBN 0824805240)
• Pukui, Mary Kawena, Samuel H. Elbert, 1986. Hawaiian Dictionary. The University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 572 pp. (ISBN 0824807030)

See also

• List of Hawaii state parks

External links

• Photos of ‘Akaka Falls State Park - Terra Galleria

Hawaii state parks | Waterfalls of the United States