Founder of HawaiiGuide & certified travel expert with 20+ years of experience in Hawaii tourism.
Heading west on Highway 50 from Hanapepe turn right onto Menehune Road near mile marker 23. Pull over to the side of the road, walk across the street from the Waimea Hanging Bridge and check out the Menehune Ditch. At first glance it just looks like a ditch with a stone wall, but this structure has a lot of historical significance. It is rumored to have been built by Hawai'i's 'little people,' the Menehune, who arrived around 300 AD from the Marquesas Islands. Seven hundred years later the Tahitians would arrive and build the Hawaiian culture that is present today. The stones used to complete the ditch were brought from nearly six miles away. Some legends say it was even constructed in one night.
Only a small portion of the engineering phenomena still remains.
