If you love plants and flowers, you definitely want to visit the Lyon Arboretum Botanical Garden on Oahu. It’s a stunning Shangri La of all the most beautiful flowers of Hawaii. And the trail is located close to the popular Manoa Falls Trail.

Set on 194 acres, there are more than 5,000 different types of flowers and plants and one of the largest palm tree collections found in any botanical garden. There is also a Hawaiian section which has plants that are native to Hawaii.

The Sukhothai Walking Buddha is also at the gardens.

There are several trails you can follow at Lyon Arboretum. I hiked the trail to Aihualama Falls which takes about 30 minutes to hike.

The highlight of the trip was exploring the haunted Seismograph station, so haunted that even the map carries a warning!

The waterfall is often dry, but I was lucky to go after a rain, and so there was actually some water flowing when I visited.

There are many side trails at the gardens, so I recommend giving yourself a couple of hours to explore all that is there. Also make sure to take both bug spray and sunscreen.

If you love birds, you will see a lot of them at Lyon Arboretum. Really, this place is a photographer’s dream. The colors here are some of the most vivid colors I’ve ever seen at a garden.

Make sure to grab a map from the visitor’s center, as the trails aren’t always clearly marked. Also, the visitor’s center will loan you umbrellas in case it rains.

The trails around the garden are very easy if you want to bring your kids. Make sure that everyone wears good walking shoes as parts of the trail are slippery.

Address: 3860 Manoa Rd, Honolulu, HI 96822

Phone: (808) 988-0456