There are two main valleys on the island that are easily accessible. We started with the one furthest away from where we were staying, Pololu Valley Lookout. It had just down poured, and the flash flood warnings were starting to be lifted. It was a bit slippery hiking down into the valley, but we caught some pretty views as we went. This was a pretty quick hike for us at only 0.9 miles round trip. On our way over to the next valley, we stopped in Waimea for some açai bowls from Hina Rae’s Cafe. After enjoying our refreshing lunch, we hopped back in the Jeep to drive only about 30 min to Waipio Valley Lookout. If you have 4 wheel drive you can drive down into this valley, but we prefer to explore on foot. It’s a pretty steep incline down the road for the first half of this hike and you need to watch out for cars, but the second half is a flat road ending at a large black pebbled beach. We enjoyed taking in the dramatic walls of this valley while sitting on a log on the beach. We even spotted a waterfall spilling into the ocean on the west bank! The hike back up definitely got the heart pumping, but nothing like our hike to the highest point of Hawaii.