The Iao Needle
by Hilarye
The ‘Iao Valley, is the site of one of the most famous battles that occurred in 1790 and changed Hawaii history forever when King Kamehameha I destroyed the Maui army in an effort to unite the Hawaiian Islands. But now it is a state park found at the end of Highway 32 in Central Maui. The lovely, deep valley of ‘Iao features the ‘Iao Needle, a natural rock pinnacle presiding over the ‘Iao stream and surrounded by the walls of the Pu’u Kukui Crater. Once used as a natural altar, the 2,250-foot stone pillar covered in green, is a basaltic core that has survived eons of swirling water.
