Waimea Canyon State Park: Waimea Canyon Lookout

Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T! 

Waimea Canyon is known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is ten miles long and 3000 feet deep (The Grand Canyon in Arizona is 277 miles long and 6000 feet deep.) Waimea Canyon was formed both by erosion from the Waimea River cutting through the rock and by the collapse of the volcano that formed Kauai.

Waimea Canyon and Kōkeʻe State Parks preserve the canyon wilderness and maintain a network of trails and lookouts for visitors to enjoy the area. Waimea Canyon Lookout is the first official lookout on Waimea Canyon Drive around the 10-mile mark.

This area has a large parking lot, restrooms and multi-level viewing platforms. We arrived early, beating the tour buses. After watching the wild chickens running around the lot, we proceeded to the viewing platforms.

There is a head-on view of the canyon from this spot.  We could see Waipo’o Falls flowing down the opposite wall with helicopters hovering near it.

The cliff walls were once black lava rock. Over time the exposed rock weathered to its present bright red color.

On the rocks far below the platform, we could see a Hawaiian Ibex goat. Goats are not native to Hawaii, so these are really feral goats. They were introduced to the islands by Captain Cook in the late 1700s.

To control their population and the damage they do to the vegetation, the government issues hunting permits for them. This one didn’t seem too worried about all the humans nearby.

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