The Lookout Points at Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Park

While I recommend spending at least two days at Waimea Canyon State Park, if you only have time for one day, make sure you stop at all of the lookout points. Be sure to include the two lookout points in Kokee State Park, as well.

The first outlook you will come to is the most popular. The Waimea Canyon Lookout is at an elevation of 3400 ft. It has the largest parking lot, but you may still need to circle a few times to get a spot if you are there during peak season. 

You will need to climb some stairs and ramps to get to the lookout. (This lookout is wheelchair accessible.) These photos were taken from the top viewing area. The lower platform was under construction on our first visit but open for our second. 

We were supposed to do our first visit to the park the day after our helicopter ride, however, our helicopter ride was rescheduled due to heavy cloud cover. I recommend scheduling activities that could be postponed due to weather early in your trip, so you have some wiggle room if the weather doesn’t cooperate. 

The rain caught up to us at the Pu’u Hinahina Lookout. Since we were not originally planning on being in Waimea Canyon that day, I did not have my umbrella or raincoat. It’s a good idea to leave both in your car for the duration of your trip, so you are not caught off guard.

At this point, we understood why our helicopter trip was rescheduled. The light rain falling was actually quite beautiful.

On a clear day you would be able to see to the Pacific Ocean and a waterfall in the distance. 

To get to Kokee State Park, you just keep on driving up the canyon. A couple sections of the road could use some maintenance, but overall, it wasn’t too bad. We were driving an SUV and were ok. The one thing we didn’t do that we had planned, was to hike Berry Flats Trail. The parking lot was located at the bottom of a dirt road, which was very muddy due to rain. We weren’t confident about being able to get the car back up the hill, so we skipped that hike. 

 

We stopped at the Kokee Visitor Center for lunch (do not recommend eating here) and then walked the Nature Trail located to the right of the center. We were accompanied by roosters throughout the very short hike.

Kalalau Lookout is the next viewing area, with an altitude of 3,783 feet. All we could see on our first day was clouds. What you see in the background is actually a wall of clouds filling in the entire valley. This is one of the reasons why I recommend that you go on two days, to give yourself an opportunity to see the canyon under different weather conditions and to venture out on one of the many hikes available here. We decided not to go up to Pu’u O Kila Lookout until our second visit because the weather was completely obscuring the view.

There are many places to pull over and check out the differing views of the park. I suggest giving yourself the whole day at the canyon, so you can pull over as often as you like without feeling rushed.

On the way up the canyon, you should only stop at the pullouts to your right. On the way down, you should check out the pull outs to the left. The road is very winding and has many blind spots. It’s safer to not cross traffic while driving or walking, if possible.

All the lovely red dirt that you see will stain your shoes and your clothes if you should happen to slip or sit. If you are worried about staining the carpet in your rental car, bring an extra pair of shoes and a plastic bag to store your newly dyed red shoes in. 

The current fee to enter the park is two part: a parking fee and a per person entrance fee. You can find the current price here. The price is per day and can be paid using the kiosks in the parking lots. It will print out a ticket that you leave on the dashboard of your car. For us the cost was $20 ($10 for parking/$5 per person entrance). Residents are free. You cannot, as of this writing, buy a ticket ahead of time for Waimea Canyon. The parking pass is good at both Waimea Canyon State Park and Kokee State Park.

Things to Know Before You Go

1. The road is very curvy and has many blind spots. To me, it seemed just as nerve wracking as the Road to Hana did. The drive up and down may take longer than you think it will.
2. The best views (due to cloud cover) are said to be mid-morning and late afternoon. I recommend going at least twice to increase your odds of witnessing the spectacular views.
3. There is a daily fee to get in, you may pay with a credit card at the kiosk. 
4. Bring an umbrella or raincoat. It rains here, a lot!
5. If you plan on hiking bring walking sticks. Sometimes you can find tree branches leaning up against the trail signs that you can use if you forget or don’t have one.
6. The Lookouts and Visitor Center all have bathrooms.
7. You can purchase food, drinks, snacks and souvenirs at the Visitor Center.

On our ride back to the condo (55mins) we stopped in the town of Hanapepe. I had read that it was a quaint little town filled with art shops. Unfortunately, this area was hit very hard by the lack of tourism due to covid and most of the shops were out of business or had very reduced hours of operation. Another covid related issue we noticed was limited menus at almost every restaurant. At the time of our visit, masks were required indoors and when you could not distance outdoors (lines at popular food trucks). The mask rules are enforced, they will tell you to put on your mask or leave. This is one of the reasons why we chose to visit Kauai, we appreciated the enforcement.

We also made a quick stop at Spouting Horn Park to check out the blowhole.

Our helicopter ride was rescheduled for the next day. We were excited to be able to see the canyon from the ground, the air and the ocean. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

(Pictures are available for purchase as Fine Art Prints or Digital Downloads at full resolution through Alamy. If you see something you like, click on the link. If you are unable to find it, use the Contact Me page and I will make sure the image is available.)

More Hiking Adventures

Hiking the Kuilau Ridge Trail in Kauai

Pololu Valley ~ Hawaii

The Pipiwai Trail ~ Maui

Cathedral Rock Trail ~ Arizona

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