![]() If I did it again, here’s what I would do: If you are traveling with kids, are looking for an easier hike with views of the Napali Coast, or have a fear of heights, I recommend the Awa’awapuhi Trail over the Nua’lolo Trail. And the views are nice, but not nearly as stunning as those from the Nua’lolo Trail. It’s also more crowded than the Nua’lolo Trail. The Awa’awapuhi Trail is shorter, less steep, and better maintained. The Nua’lolo Trail is worth the extra effort to have this view. But the views are much better than those from the Awa’awapuhi Trail. It’s longer, it’s steeper, it can be muddy after it rains, and the trail is overgrown in spots. The Nua’lolo Trail is the tougher of the two. Of the two, I think the Nua’lolo Trail is the better choice. I recommend choosing between the Awa’awapuhi Trail OR the Nua’lolo Trail. If all that sounds like fun, then by all means go for it. Without a GPS, you risk stumbling off the trail on the Nua’lolo Cliff Trail, where it is very overgrown. You’ll hike through tall brush, slip and slide on wet, muddy ground, and be a hot, sweaty mess at the end of this hike. Most of the time, you are in the trees with very little view. Is the Nua’lolo Trail and Awa’awapuhi Trail Loop Worth It? ![]() They had live music playing and this was a great spot to unwind, refuel, and cool off before visiting more sights along in Koke’e and Waimea State Parks. There is also a restaurant that serves burgers, salads, sandwiches, smoothies, cocktails, and beer. You can buy snacks, cold drinks, and ice cream from the general store here. Plus, the parking lot was completely full at the Koke’e Museum so we did not have to wait for a parking space, since our car was already here. It felt good to stretch out our legs and since it was downhill, it went by fast. We didn’t mind ending with the walk along the road. Once you get to the end of the Awa’awapuhi Trail, you will be at your car and you do not have to end with the hike down the road. Hike down the road first, then do the loop. Alternate Route OptionĪnother way to do this hike is to park in the Awa’awapuhi Trail parking lot. If you get lucky, maybe some nice person will drive you back to the Koke’e Museum parking lot. It’s a boring walk and dangerous, so stay close to the shoulder of the road. Now, it’s a 1.8 mile walk along Kokee Road back to your car and it’s mostly downhill from here. This is done to help stop Rapid ‘Ohi’a Death, a disease that is killing ‘Ohi’a trees in Hawaii, and to help prevent the spread of seeds that could still be on your shoes from other hikes. This is a small parking lot and there are no restrooms.Ĭlean your shoes off with the brushes and spray provided at the trailhead. Walk 0.2 miles south on Kokee Road to the trailhead. That way, you can use the restroom before and after the hike, and grab a bite to eat once finished the hike. I recommend parking in the large lot for the Koke’e Museum, which is 0.2 miles from the trailhead. You can also start at the Awa’awapuhi Trail trailhead, but this parking lot is small (it can hold about 15 cars) and there are no facilities. Just a short distance from here is a large parking lot for the Koke’e Museum, restrooms, and the Koke’e Lodge (a great place for cold drinks and food once finished the hike). We chose to do this loop in a clockwise direction, starting at the Nua’lolo Trail trailhead. Both will require walking along Kokee Road at some point. Since this is a loop, you can hike these trails clockwise or counterclockwise. The Nua’lolo Trail + Awa’awapuhi Trail Loop I’m glad we did it, I’m glad we got to share this with Tyler and Kara, and I am also glad that we can share with you what we learned. Maybe that’s just because we have done so many hikes around the world that our standards are a bit different now. How was it on our second hike? It was nice, but it didn’t live up to our memories. And this time around, we could share the experience with our kids. We are older and wiser and there was something very nostalgic about returning to a place where Tim and I first hit a hiking trail together. On our recent visit to Kauai, we wanted to hike this trail again. We learned a lot, not just about the trail, but about hiking in general, which carried on through later experiences. ![]() Tim and I reached the end of the trail, exhausted and dehydrated, and learned the very valuable lesson of carrying enough water on a hike. We were very unprepared for this hike…but we were young and fit and muddled through. It’s a long, challenging hike and we got through it, but it wasn’t pretty. This is not a hike that I would recommend for newbie hikers. Tim and I were visiting Hawaii on our honeymoon and this was the first real hike each of us had ever done.
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