Vacation Rental in Princeville Kauai

and Kauai Travel Guide

©B.Pruitt 2009

Hiking on Kauai

Take a Walk on the Safe Side

East Side Trails

North Shore Trails

Na Pali Trails

Koke‛e Trails

Camping on Kauai

Na Pali Trails

Kalalau Trail

Distance (one way)  11.1 mi.   

Duration (one way)  Two days

Difficulty   Very strenuous

Starting Altitude  77'

Ending Altitude   77'

Maximum Altitude  866'

Climbing Elevation  6612'

Descending Elevation  6612'

Average Grade   28

Map    Na Pali Coastline

Coordinates   Start N22° 13.213', W159° 34.967'

                       Hanakapiai campground  N22° 12.470',  W159° 35.845'

                       Hanakoa Valley  N22° 11.439', W159° 37.182'

                       End  N22° 10.302', W159° 39.644'

Hiking the Kalalau Trail is Kauai's ultimate outdoor adventure and its most grueling.  It's by walking at the feet and sometimes the shoulders of the chiseled cliffs that their grandeur and captivating allure can be best appreciated.  Hiking the length of Kalalau Trail should be attempted only by experienced back-packers.  Hiking boots are essential equipment because footing along the trail includes soft cinders, dirt, mud, rocks, tree roots and streams.  A strong, waterproof tent is needed to stand up to gusty winds and frequent showers.  A light sleeping bag or bedroll is adequate as the nighttime temperatures are mild.  Firewood is difficult to find and tree cutting is not permitted so a backpacking stove is recommended.  A walking stick is a welcome aid when navigating the rocky terrain.

Running water is abundant along the trail but is not fit for drinking unless it is treated or boiled.  The State Department of Health has issued a warning that although portable water filters may protect against giardia, salmonella and other bacteria and parasites, they do not protect from the bacterium that causes leptospirosis, a dangerous disease spread by animal urine and producing flu-like symptoms.  Leptospirosis bacteria can enter the body through breaks in the skin or through mucous membranes.  The long spiral-shaped bacteria, called spirochetes, are too skinny to be trapped by filters.  

It isn't necessary to hike the length of Kalalau Trail to enjoy the beautiful sights of the Na Pali coastline.  A moderately strenuous day hike leads to Hanakapi‛ai Beach, two miles in from the trailhead at Ke‘e Beach.  As many as 500 people use this trail daily in the summer and about 350 people walk its muddy path in the winter.  The large majority of these hikers turn back at Hanakapiai.  

If possible, arrange to be dropped off and picked up at the trailhead if you are going to be on the trail for several days.  The parking lot is small and cars left overnight are susceptible to break-ins.  The Kalalau Trail begins at an information kiosk under tropical almond and kukui trees smothered with pothos plants.  Footing is uneven as the trail is covered with rocks and roots.  After a halfmile of steep ascent you reach a lookout of Ke‘e Beach.  Two hundred feet above the golden sand and turquoise water, you'll see the extent of the reef that forms the excellent swimming and snorkeling lagoon.  To the southwest, cliffs serrate the coastline, becoming less distinct in the distance.  The variability of rainfall is apparent as the green cliffs of Hanakapi‛ai Valley yield to the red ridges of the Honopu and Nu‘alolo valleys and finally to the brown rock of Miloli‘i Valley, ten miles from your vantage point.  Miloli‘i Valley receives but a quarter of the rainfall than Na Pali's northern extreme.

The trail rises steadily to the one-mile mark and then begins its descent into the Hanakapi‛ai Valley.  As the trail switchbacks to the Hanakapi‛ai Stream, you'll notice a black and yellow striped concrete pole imbedded in the ground.  This is a marker for a safe elevation in the event of a tsunami.  It seems to be incredibly high, but the V shape of the steep-sided valley would act as a funnel, pushing sea water higher as it surges inland.  Hikers will have to hop slippery rocks in order to ford the stream.  If the water level is too high, wait a while and it should recede.  Flash floods can occur here when heavy rain falls on higher ground.  Keep that in mind once you are on the other side.

Inland of the beach, where Kalalau Trail intersects with the trail to Hanakapi‛ai Falls, is a campground.  Some people heading to Kalalau Beach will camp here while others may choose to carry on to Hanakoa Campground, four miles farther along.

When Hawaiians lived in the Hanakapi‛ai Valley, they grew taro in flooded rock terraces as well as banana, sweet potato and arrowroot.  In the 1800s, a Hanalei plantation farmer planted 20,000 coffee trees in the valley.  A few coffee trees are still grow there.

Arrive in the summer and you will find gold sand covering Hanakapi‛ai Beach.  Powerful winter surf scours the sand from the beach to leave boulder rubble.  The sand is stored offshore until gentle summer surf pushes it back into place.  Hanakapi‘ai Beach is a very dangerous place to swim.  Many drownings have occurred here (see Beaches chapter).

Hanakapi‛ai Falls Trail leads from the camping area into the valley for 1.8 miles.  It is a difficult hike to make, with a 1,800-foot elevation gain and several stream crossings.  The difficult conditions are made worse by a trail that is poorly maintained by the state.  Parts of the trail are heavily eroded and in places the trail disappears under heavy growth.  Persistent hikers will find Hanakapiai Falls dropping 100 feet into pool.

Day hikers return after they reach the Hanakapi‛ai Valley.  Those who trek further must have a state camping permit (see Camping information).  Kalalau Trail leaves Hanakapiai Valley with a very steep ascent along 14 switchbacks, reaching its highest elevation of 866 feet in one mile.  The trail does not return to sea level until it ends at Kalalau Beach.  Sisal plants grow along the elevated portion of the trail.  Its medium green leaves are armed with thorns.  Sisal fibers were once prized for making ropes.  The plants were introduced to the islands in the hope of starting a rope industry.

Next the trail traverses two small valleys.  The first is Ho‘olulu Valley, a hanging valley where the floor sits about 200 feet above the sea.  Ho‘olulu is thickly foliated with ti, guava, morning glory, mountain orchids and ferns along with kukui, koa and hala trees.  Notice how goats have nibbled at the leaves of the ti plants.

Waiahuakua Valley, another hanging valley, comes into sight four and a half miles into the hike.  From June to August, ohia ai (mountain apple) abounds along the trail.  Mountain apple trees have smooth, dark green leaves and reach up to 50 feet high.  Their fruit is a small, red or pinkish apple with a thin, waxen skin.  The meat is delicious and juicy.  Waves have cut sea caves into the cliffs below Ho‘olulu and Waiahuakua valleys, but they are only visible to boaters.

The trail turns inland and follows the 500-foot contour into the Hanakoa Valley.  The view along the green cliffs of the valley is marked with waterfalls.  Broad and terraced, Hanakoa Valley was once cultivated by Hawaiians.  An 1835 census counted 50 individuals living in the valley.  When they abandoned taro cultivation, the Hawaiians of Hanakoa modified the terraces for growing coffee bean trees.  Campsites are found on both side of Hanakoa stream, near mango and coffee bean trees.  Campers are only allowed to stay one night at Hanakoa Valley.

Hanakoa Falls Trail is a half-mile diversion (oneway) from the main trail taking hearty hikers 1,600 feet up Hanakoa Valley.  The trail to Hanakoa Falls starts on the first terrace on the west side of the stream, exiting at its southeast corner.  The distance to the falls is actually farther than the one-third mile than the sign indicates.  Hanakoa Stream forks in two above the trail.  You need to cross the west fork of the stream and then continue uphill along the west side of the east fork.  Solitude and a pool will greet you at the base of the falls.  Many hikers save their energy for the Kalalau Trail and bypass this side trail.  Your solitude will be broken frequently however by tour helicopters.

The last 4.8 miles of the trail lie ahead and will test the endurance of even the fittest hiker.  The trail switchbacks alternately up and down along precipitous Manono Ridge.  Underfoot, a loose conglomerate lacks the sure footing you might desire when navigating across a cliff with a 200-foot drop to the sea.  The unobstructed view of the ocean is breathtaking though.  Vegetation becomes sparse on this section of the trail.  After you pass a low point, the trail turns inland to cross two small gullies, the second have a running brook.  As you approach the second gully, watch for the appearance of onion-skin boulders on the slope.  They are so-named because the process of spheroidal weathering has gradually peeled away layers of lava rock from these boulders, much like peeling an onion.  The boulders consist of a rounded core surrounded by concentric shells of fragile stone.  Water penetrates imperfections in the outer surface of the rock and reacts with the underlying rock to form clay.  The clay swells and forces the outer surface to separate from the inner surface.

Pohakuao is the last small valley before Kalalau.  A final steep incline brings you to the top of a steep red slope, appropriately named Red Hill.  The welcome sight of the Kalalau Valley lies below.  Kalalau is the largest valley along the Na Pali Coast—two miles wide and three miles long.  From Red Hill the trail snakes down to the cool rushing water of Kalalau Stream.  Camping is allowed on the beach, near the trees fronting the beach and in the caves at the far end of the beach.  The westernmost cave collapsed in 1987 and a rock slide in 1980 sealed off the entrance to the next cave east.  These are two good reasons to not choose the remaining caves as campsites.   There are a pit toilet and a composting toilet near the east end of the camping area and a pit toilet near the west end.  Ho‘ole‘a Falls, at the far end of the beach is where most campers shower and replenish their water supply.  Goats living in the hills above the stream require that its water is treated or boiled before drinking.  Beyond the caves the steep walls of crumbling lava make any further progress on land impossible.  Some people try swimming the four tenths of a mile to neighboring Honopû Beach.  This is risky even for strong swimmers as an ocean current flowing from the north works against them on the return trip.

The state allows a maximum of five days to camp at Kalalau.  While there, many campers hike upvalley on the Kalalau Valley Trail to Big Pool.  The trail is two miles long one way and has an elevation gain of 900 feet.  The trail into the valley begins on the west side of Kalalau Stream.  From there, hikers follow the stream initially and then have to scramble up an eroded rise.  Bare land transforms to areas wooded with orange, mango, guava and rose apple trees.  A tributary stream and then Kalalau Stream have to be crossed.  Big Pool is a pair of room-sized pools joined by a natural water slide.  It is a delightful place to enjoy the sights of the Kalalau Valley.

TOP