Nā Pali Coast State Wilderness Park

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

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Nā Pali means ‘high cliffs’ in Hawaiian. The Nā Pali Coast State Park protects 16 miles of rugged sea cliffs on the northwestern coast of Kauai. This cliffs rise dramatically from the shoreline, some as high as 4000 feet.

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In the valleys between the Pali, waterfalls run to the sea, continuing to carve out the jagged landscape. There are remnants of stone terraces where ancient Hawaiians lived and cultivated taro root.

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There are no roads running through this park. Access is either from the sea or via the 11-mile Kalalau Trail. We’d looked down into part of this park from the Kalalau Lookout  in Kōkeʻe State Park.

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The culmination of our cruise on Norwegian’s Pride of America was an hour spent cruising the Nā Pali Coast before heading back to Oahu. Aloha, Kauai, until we meet again!

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Kauai Posts:

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Location: Nā Pali Coast State Wilderness Park, Kapaʻa, HI 96746

Designation: State Wilderness Park

Date designated or established: 1911

Date of my visit: 4/19/2019

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21 thoughts on “Nā Pali Coast State Wilderness Park

    1. We really didn’t get to spend enough time on Maui…we were scheduled to snorkel Molokini Crater but high winds canceled that. And I had some weird delayed edema in my legs from the 11 hour flight and whirlwind Oahu tour that made walking painful that day. Will have to go back. Kauai on the other hand was delightful!

  1. Years ago, in the 1970s, I backpacked in on the Kalalau Trail. Beautiful. And it was before helicopters were flying over every five minutes, which sadly destroyed the peace and quiet.

    1. Yes there were a lot of helicopters hovering over Waimea Canyon when we were there. You couldn’t pay me to go up in one of them. Accidents seem to happen in the tourist helicopters here in NY all the time.

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