Waimea Canyon Loop Hike Guide
Waimea Canyon Loop covered in this post tackles the following trails: Kumuwela, Canyon, Halemanu-Kokee. Combined, this hike is a 6 mile loop within Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii. This loop follows 3 or 4 different trails and uses some jeep roads to link up a beautiful loop that shows off the best parts of this State Park. The loop visits a popular viewpoint of Waimea Canyon and also the swimming hole, Waipo’o Falls, while also working through some quieter parts of the park. This hike requires a bit of trail finding through the thicker/overgrown sections of trail but is a great sample of the area.
Waimea Canyon Loop Guide
Waimea Canyon Loop Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
Virtual Trail Guide: Waimea Canyon Loop
Distance: 6 Miles RT
Elevation Start: 3,125ft
High Point: 3,825ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1,450ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 3-5 Hours Total
Difficulty: Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1 – What does this mean?
Season: Year Round – Avoid this hike during or after a heavy rain
Directions to Waimea Canyon Loop
Trailhead: Kumela Road in Waimea Canyon State Park
Getting Here: First, get into the State Park and then work your way up towards the Koke’ke Lodge and turn right onto Kumela Road, just past the lodge. The road is dirt and starts off manageable but does get rough about a ¼ mile in. With careful driving, it should be doable in most vehicles, but a higher clearance AWD or 4WD will make your life easier. If you want, you can always park at the lodge and walk this portion of the road. After about ¾ of a mile of driving there is a small parking area on the right, just past another road.
Parking: The parking lot can fit about 4-6 vehicles and does not have any restrooms in the area. As mentioned above, if you don’t want to drive the road, you can park at the lodge, but this does add 1.5 miles to the hike.
Fee/Reservations: None for Hawaiian residents, $5 per person for non-residents. The fee is paid at the lodge. Read more about fees here.
Summary
Dogs: Dogs are not allowed on the Waimea Canyon Loop hike or anywhere in the State Park.
Camping: Camping is not allowed in Waimea Canyon State Park.
Hike Xfactor(s): Water levels and overgrown trails will make this hike more challenging than it appears on paper. Sure, it’s only 6 miles but there are many sections that require careful navigation through thick, overgrown jungle. Don’t get extreme and pack your machete, but do plan on using some extra time to get through these sections. If the water levels are high, the one and only stream crossing (shown in the virtual trail guide) could be dangerous or impassable.
Hike Tip(s): If you plan on swimming at Waipo’o Falls, I would recommend bringing some sort of water shoes/sandals to protect your feet while going for a dip. The water here is not typically clean (brown) and is very shallow. Stubbing your toe (or worse) is a real possibility.
Best Views: Two spots standout as great views on this loop: the area around Waipo’o Falls (please be VERY careful exploring this area) and the picnic table viewpoints a tad earlier in the loop. Outside of these two areas, you are mostly hiking through a lush rainforest. Beautiful in its own right, but not great for aerial views.
Make it a Loop: This is a loop hike. If you wanted a more condensed version of this hike, you could just hike the Canyon trail to Waipo’o Falls, this shaves off about 3 miles but also eliminates the canyon views.
Waimea Canyon Loop Route
Gear Needed
- La Sportiva Men’s Trail Runners
- Backpack (Summer)
- Food & Water
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles – 120CM
- Optional: Bathing Suit + Towel
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod, Selfie Stick, GoPro 360,
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