Little is now visible of Hawaii’s most remarkable example of pre-contact cut-and-dressed stonework, supposedly constructed within a single night by the menehune, or ‘little people.’ A seven-mile aqueduct that channeled water from the Waimea River to ancient agricultural sites, it was described by Captain Vancouver in 1793 as standing 24ft tall, with its top serving as a pathway into Waimea Canyon. Only a short masonry wall survives; the rest is said to remain intact beneath the modern road.
To get here, follow Menehune Rd inland from Kaumuali‘i Hwy for almost 1.5 miles to a footbridge across the Waimea River, and look for the interpretive signboard opposite.
