Waimea Canyon State Park

Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands, and Waimea Canyon is a record of that age written in stone. Millions of years ago the island began as a single great shield volcano. As it grew, one side of the mountain cracked and slumped along a massive geological fault, dropping the whole western block and leaving a deep rift in the volcanic shield.

Then came the water. The Waimea River, fed by some of the wettest highlands on earth up near Mount Waialeale, went to work in that rift, cutting down through layer after layer of old lava flows over the ages. Each dark and light band you see in the walls is a separate ancient eruption, stacked like pages in a book, and the red streaks are iron in the rock slowly rusting in the tropical air. The result is a canyon that is part volcano, part fault, and part river, unlike anything else in the islands.

Most people meet the canyon the easy way, from a series of lookouts strung along the rim road that climbs from Waimea town. The main Waimea Canyon Lookout is the classic first stop, a short walk from the parking area to a railing hung right over the heart of the gorge, with the red walls falling away at your feet. A little farther up, the Puu Hinahina Lookout adds a westward view toward the ocean and, on clear days, the forbidden island of Niihau on the horizon.

Keep climbing and the road carries you into cooler, mistier country and Kokee State Park at the top, where the Kalalau and Puu o Kila lookouts peer down thousands of feet into the folded green amphitheater of Kalalau Valley on the Na Pali Coast. It is worth doing the whole drive slowly, stopping at several lookouts, because the canyon looks completely different depending on where you stand and how the light and clouds are behaving.

For anyone who wants more than a roadside view, trails drop right off the rim. The most popular is the walk to a viewpoint above Waipoo Falls, a route of a few miles round trip that leads out along the canyon wall to where an 800-foot waterfall spills down into the gorge, one of the great payoffs on the island for a modest effort.

The bold can take the Kukui Trail, a steep, knee-testing descent of nearly 2,000 feet down switchbacks all the way to the canyon floor and the river far below. It is a serious hike back up in the heat, so it rewards an early start and plenty of water. Whichever trail you choose, the ground can be slick red mud after rain, so sure footing matters more here than the distance does.

The canyon sits above Waimea town on the dry southwest side of Kauai, reached by the rim road that switchbacks up from near sea level. Fill up on gas, water, and snacks in town first, because once you start climbing there are no stores, and the drive to the top and back with stops easily fills half a day. Out-of-state visitors pay a state park entry and parking fee at the main lookouts, so check the current requirements before heading up.

Go in the morning if you can. The canyon makes its own weather, and clear mornings often give way to clouds and drifting mist by afternoon that can swallow the deepest views. Bring a light layer for the cool air at the top, wear shoes you can hike in, and give yourself time to linger at more than one lookout. It is the kind of place that keeps changing while you watch it, the reddest and greenest canyon most travelers will ever see, hidden in plain sight on a tropical island.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.