A drowning and a paralyzing injury has forced the County of Kaua’i to close a trial to an area known as Queen’s Bath. Queen’s Bath is a popular coastal swimming hole located below the Princeville Resort. The county holds a
A drowning and a paralyzing injury has forced the County of Kaua’i to close a trial to an area known as Queen’s Bath.
Queen’s Bath is a popular coastal swimming hole located below the Princeville Resort.
The county holds a pedestrian right of way from a trailhead near the intersection of Punahele Road and Kapiolani Loop in Princeville down a red dirt trail to a rocky coastline area known as Queen’s Bath.
A Kaua’i resident is suing the county after suffering an accident at Queen’s Bath that left him a paraplegic, which prompted the county to place warning signs along the trail to the spot. The signs are the only physical evidence that the path is closed to the public.
Two weeks after the county posted warning signs closing off the right of way due to safety and liability concerns, a 44-year-old visitor from Massachusetts drowned in waters offshore of Queen’s Bath, becoming the island’s first drowning victim of 2002.
He was taken to the area by relatives who are Kaua’i residents.
No boulders have been placed in the parking area adjacent to the trail, nor at the trail head, and none are planned to be placed, said Beth Tokioka, county public information officer.
Compounding the county’s concerns about keeping people away from a dangerous trail that ends at a potentially hazardous swimming area has been the publicity that Queen’s Bath has been given in guide books and magazines. Some of the articles give specific directions on where to park and how to hike to Queen’s Bath.
According to Tokioka, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka asked Gregg Gardiner, the publisher of the visitor publication 101 Things to Do on Kaua’i, to remove directions to Queen’s Bath from the publication, which Gardiner did.
Tokioka believes the county has also blocked vehicular access to the beach parking lot at the intersection of the two Princeville roads.
Despite the county’s warning signs visitors are still hiking down to the coastal pool.
A few weekends ago, County Engineer Cesar Portugal was in Princeville, and near the trail head saw a family with young children preparing to trek down to the beach, carrying normal ocean paraphernalia like body boards, towels, and other gear.
They essentially ignored him, and went on their way down the trail, after he warned them that the trail was closed due to dangerous conditions both on the trail and along the shoreline.
“The access was closed due to danger posed to the general public by both the trail and the ocean,” Tokioka said. “Until the trail and the site can be addressed to a point where these dangerous conditions no longer exist, we do not foresee reopening the access,” she added.
“Not only does this area pose a physical danger to the public, as demonstrated by a recent drowning there, but it also represents a tremendous liability to the county and ultimately the taxpayers.
“As we speak, the county is in the process of litigating a suit filed by an individual who was seriously injured at Queen’s Bath,” Tokioka continued.
“Based on these factors, we feel the closure at this time is the only prudent course of action,” she concluded.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
