The Kalalau Trail on the Island of Kauai is world-famous for the route along the cliffs of the Na’Pali Coast.     The trail starts at the end of the road on the north part of the island.     The trail is 11-12 miles one way from the trailhead at Ha’ena State Park to the campsite in the Kalalau Valley.    Permits are needed to camp at any of the campsites along the trail.   We had previously taken the helicopter tour of the Na’Pali Coast, and we also had hiked the cliffs above from Koke’e State Park.       We hiked a section of the Kalalau Trail as a day hike twice, going in to Hanakapi’ai Beach and back.

The trail is narrow and rugged, winding along a route crossing steep cliffs.    Tropical vegetation is rich in the valleys and more barren on the ridges.    At 5.6 km, we wound down to and crossed Hanakapi’ai Stream, then went down to the beach.    The surf pounded the coastline with no protective reef.   We wanted to go farther along the trail and with an earlier start we could have gone to the next valley and back, but its a long drive to the far end of the North Shore on Kauai so on both occasions we hiked the first leg only.    It was always our intention to backpack the whole way, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Shared here are some photos of the hike in a Google Photos album.

We will be back to hike the trails of Kauai again once the Trump-era is over.