Nature Walk in Hilo

Free Nature Walk in Hilo with Roamee Pro

Roamee Pro, also known as Roamee, offers a free nature walk route in Hilo. The audio walking tour can include stops such as Rainbow Falls — Called Waianuenue ('rainbow water') in Hawaiian, this 24-meter waterfall is fed by the Wailuku River and drops into a large circular pool surrounded by tropical vegetation. The falls are most photogenic in the early morning when sunlight refracting through the mist creates vivid rainbows — a phenomenon that occurs on roughly 200 days per year due to Hilo's consistent morning sunshine followed by afternoon rain. Hawaiian legend holds that a cave behind the falls was the home of Hina, the goddess of the moon., Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — This UNESCO World Heritage Site protects two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kilauea, which erupted continuously from 1983 to 2018 and has added over 200 hectares of new land to the Big Island, and Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano on Earth by volume. The park's Crater Rim Drive circles the Kilauea caldera, passing steam vents, sulfur banks, and the Thurston Lava Tube, a 500-year-old tunnel formed by flowing lava. The Devastation Trail crosses a cinder field from a 1959 eruption that shot lava fountains 580 meters into the air., Hilo Farmers Market — Operating since the 1970s on the corner of Mamo Street and Kamehameha Avenue, this open-air market features over 200 vendors on its full-market days (Wednesday and Saturday), selling tropical produce grown in Hilo's rich volcanic soil — rambutan, starfruit, lilikoi, and apple bananas — alongside locally roasted Kona and Ka'u coffee, fresh flower leis, and handcrafted goods. The market reflects Hilo's multicultural heritage with vendors of Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, and Portuguese descent offering dishes from each tradition., plus hidden gems like Peepee Falls and Boiling Pots — Located along the Wailuku River just upstream from Rainbow Falls, this series of connected cylindrical pools was carved into the basalt by centuries of rushing water, creating a bubbling, churning effect that gives the site its name. The falls themselves drop about 12 meters into the first pool, and when the Wailuku River is running high after heavy rains, the interconnected pools roil dramatically as water surges through underground channels between them..

Use this page as a starting point for a Hilo walking tour, a free route, or the Roamee app for Hilo. Roamee Pro keeps the route flexible so you can follow the stops, skip ahead, or explore nearby streets at your own pace.

• •Rainbow Falls — Called Waianuenue ('rainbow water') in Hawaiian, this 24-meter waterfall is fed by the Wailuku River and drops into a large circular pool surrounded by tropical vegetation. The falls are most photogenic in the early morning when sunlight refracting through the mist creates vivid rainbows — a phenomenon that occurs on roughly 200 days per year due to Hilo's consistent morning sunshine followed by afternoon rain. Hawaiian legend holds that a cave behind the falls was the home of Hina, the goddess of the moon.
• •Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — This UNESCO World Heritage Site protects two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kilauea, which erupted continuously from 1983 to 2018 and has added over 200 hectares of new land to the Big Island, and Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano on Earth by volume. The park's Crater Rim Drive circles the Kilauea caldera, passing steam vents, sulfur banks, and the Thurston Lava Tube, a 500-year-old tunnel formed by flowing lava. The Devastation Trail crosses a cinder field from a 1959 eruption that shot lava fountains 580 meters into the air.
• •Hilo Farmers Market — Operating since the 1970s on the corner of Mamo Street and Kamehameha Avenue, this open-air market features over 200 vendors on its full-market days (Wednesday and Saturday), selling tropical produce grown in Hilo's rich volcanic soil — rambutan, starfruit, lilikoi, and apple bananas — alongside locally roasted Kona and Ka'u coffee, fresh flower leis, and handcrafted goods. The market reflects Hilo's multicultural heritage with vendors of Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, and Portuguese descent offering dishes from each tradition.
• •Liliuokalani Gardens — Built in 1917 and named for Hawaii's last reigning monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, this 12-hectare Japanese-style garden on Banyan Drive is one of the largest ornamental Japanese gardens outside Japan. It features stone lanterns, torii gates, pagodas, arched bridges over fishponds, and a formal tea ceremony garden, all set on a peninsula overlooking Hilo Bay with views of Mauna Kea. The gardens were built to honor the Japanese immigrants who worked on the Big Island's sugar plantations.

• •Peepee Falls and Boiling Pots — Located along the Wailuku River just upstream from Rainbow Falls, this series of connected cylindrical pools was carved into the basalt by centuries of rushing water, creating a bubbling, churning effect that gives the site its name. The falls themselves drop about 12 meters into the first pool, and when the Wailuku River is running high after heavy rains, the interconnected pools roil dramatically as water surges through underground channels between them.