Hikers Can Get a Natural High Along Kauai’s Amazing North Shore

The North Shore is by far the most spectacular place on the island of Kauai--some say in all of Hawaii.

Hawaiians call this shore Na Pali. That means the cliffs , which happen to lunge 2,000 to 3,000 feet out of the frothing surf. It’s a wilderness of jungled valley and crumbling cliffs, waterfalls and lost Hawaiian settlements, extending from Haena on the North Shore to Polihale State Park on the west side, and fanning back inland to the Alakai Swamp-Waimea Canyon area.

The cliffs form a wall between the rest of Kauai and prevent access except by boat or foot. This is the wet side, the windward side, the wild side of the island.

Along the Na Pali Coast, the word erosion is not merely a textbook abstraction, but rather a process that sculpts rock, working with the forces of wind and water. Water cascades down the mountainsides, knifing into porous slopes.

Some of the waves that are such an internationally renowned challenge to surfers have traveled 2,000 miles from the north when they crash into the Na Pali.

To really experience the Na Pali, take a boat ride one day and hike the cliffs the next. From an inflatable launch like a Zodiac, you can zoom in close to the coast to observe lava tubes, sea caves and incredible cuts in the Palis. You can even see “King Kong’s Cave,” the movie location where the beast showered with Jessica Lange.

A magnificent trail leads atop the cliffs from road’s end at Haena to the Kalalau Valley. Except for some restoration work half a century ago, this is the original trail built and used by the ancient Hawaiians who inhabited the beaches and hanging valleys of the Na Pali Coast.

Most visitors looking for half a day’s hike, travel the two steep miles (one up, one down) to Hanakapiai Beach. This hike compresses a lot of Kauai into a four-mile round trip: a tropical valley, awesome cliff-top views, a beautiful beach.

More ambitious hikers will leave the sun worshipers at Hanakapiai and head inland along a stream-side path to 300-foot Hanakapiai Falls.

The first mile meanders past stone walls left behind by the ancient Hawaiians and through a tropical valley. A second, more difficult, mile of trail leads over slippery stones and crosses Hanakapiai stream. (The stream crossings grow more difficult as you approach the falls; don’t try to reach the waterfall if the stream is too high for safe crossing.)

The journey to lush Kalalau Valley at trail’s end is best done as an overnight backpack. Better yet, take three, four or more days to explore the Na Pali Coast.

Hikers trekking past Hanakapiai or planning to camp must obtain a permit from the Division of State Parks. Kalalau Trail begins at Kee Beach, near a sacred Hawaiian hula heiau-- a pavilion dedicated to Laka, goddess of the hula. Ceremonies here must have been a magnificent spectacle.

Directions to trail head: Follow Route 56 to its end at Kee Beach, which is about 20 minutes from Princeville and a 1 1/2-hour drive from Lihue, the island’s capital.

The hike: The trail climbs steeply, past kukui trees, wild orchids and hala , a coastal tree sometimes called “tourist pineapple” since the fruit resembles a pineapple and fools island visitors. Perfuming the air is sweet yellow guava.

Two miles along the trail, you can turn inland and enter Hanakapiai Valley, where all the ingredients for a delicious tropical breakfast grow wild--a fruit cocktail of guava, thimbleberries and mountain apple, a small red fruit with a waxy surface and a large seed in the center.

The trail flattens out for a couple of miles and leads to other paradisiacal valleys--Hoolulu, thickly foliated with ti and morning glory, and Hanakoa, cut by a stream full of small pools and waterfalls. Hanakoa Falls cascades in three stages out of the Alakai Swamp into a cool, deep pool.

Kalalau Valley, at trail’s end, delivers a lush reward--a four-mile-deep, fruit-filled valley, a tangle of hala, bananas, mangoes and monkeypod. And it’s supremely isolated, a natural hiding place. For 1,000 years, the only entry has been via the turbulent sea or this trail.

Down at the beach is a campground. A waterfall tumbles from the cliffs to the beach, providing the camp’s water supply and one of the world’s most exquisite outdoor showers.

You can explore Kalalau, largest valley on the Na Pali Coast, with a wonderful trail that leads to a waterfall. Or you can hang out at the beach and explore the sea caves, some dry enough for sleeping, some ideal for wading and playing.

The only way out is the way you came in.

Kalalau Trail

WHERE: Na Pali Coast State Park.

LENGTH: 11 miles one way.

TERRAIN: High cliffs, tropical valleys.

HIGHLIGHTS: Best of “The Garden Island.”

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Slippery trail, dangerous river crossings at times of high water.

PRECAUTIONS: Bring drinking water. Permits required for hiking beyond Hanakapiai.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the Division of State Parks, P.O. Box 1671, Lihue, Hawaii 96766, (808) 241-3444.