Thanks to hundreds of inches of rainfall annually the mountains have undergone substantial stream erosion.

[5] The ʻĪao Valley, and its Iao Needle are popular attractions within the mountains and are accessible from Wailuku.

The summit peak at 5,788 ft (1,764 m) elevation is called "Puʻu Kukui," which translates to "candlenut hill".

[7] The West Maui Mountains were formed through at least three series of major volcanic eruptions during its shield building period.

[5] Rocks from the latest major shield-building eruptions are called the Honolua volcanic series, which are roughly 500,000 years old.