We appreciate the patience and consideration the vast majority of local and out-of-state visitors showed during the reopening of Ha‘ena State Park, Napali Coast State Wilderness Park and its Kalalau Trail on June 17.
The implementation of the master planning process initiated a new management paradigm for the parks and for the entire Hawaii State Park system.
We recognized early on that the first days of vehicle and parking control, paid park entrance for visitors, the upcoming implementation of a shuttle system, along with newly designed park features, would not perhaps go as smoothly as we’d like or as anticipated.
The general news media and various social media posts have highlighted some of the issues we’d like to address and share with the Ha‘ena-Wainiha community, Hawaii residents and visitors:
• Illegal parking — (Tuesday) four officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and four officers from the Kaua‘i Police Department will be aggressively enforcing all no-parking zone rules on Kuhio Highway leading into the park. Drivers will receive tickets that carry a $200 fine. It is hoped that consistent enforcement over the next few weeks will spread the message that parking is limited and you need to plan ahead to secure a spot in the Ha‘ena State Park lot or use the shuttle to get to the park.
• On opening day, it’s estimated that for every car that arrived at the Park with a valid permit, another 4-5 were turned away.
• Handicapped Accessible Parking — Currently there are four designated handicapped spots in the Ha‘ena State Park lot and an additional three spots at Ke‘e Beach. Apparent misunderstandings on opening day resulted in some people with handicapped placards being asked to move their cars from the spots at Ke‘e. State Parks will continue to analyze the need for the additional three spots at Ke‘e, as these spots were intended for drop-offs only and are not required by Hawaii’s Outdoor Developed Area Accessibility Guidelines or by the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.
Both the boardwalk and trail leading from the parking lot to Ke‘e Beach are compliant with both state and federal guidelines as outdoor recreational accessible routes. Anyone with a complaint or wishing to discuss ADA or HODAG guidelines for this park should contact the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources ADA Coordinator at 587-0393.
• Protest/road block on June 18 – DOCARE Officers were not involved in this matter.
• Trash cans at Ke‘e Beach restrooms and Kalalau Trailhead — this was an oversight (Monday) and has been rectified.
• Parking lot hours — Ha‘ena State Park is open from 6:30 a.m. to sunset. Controlled access at the parking lot ends at 5:30 p.m., but this does not mean cars have to leave before sunset. However, as with everything associated with this new management paradigm, hours are being constantly reviewed.
The vast majority of the visitors contacted by State Parks staff or DOCARE officers yesterday relayed positive experiences.
This continues to be a learning curve for all individuals, organizations, and agencies involved and requires a great deal of coordination.
DLNR and its divisions are committed to making visitation to Ha‘ena State Park, Napali Coast State Wilderness Park and the Kalalau Trail a positive experience for both visitors and the local community and will adjust approaches as necessary and prudent.
Hey DLNR ALL tourists should have to take a shuttle. ALL parking spaces for Ke’e should be for residents and ALL passengers in private vehicles should show proof of Hawaii residency.
nope. “public” does not discriminate. Consider tax-paying property owners who may not have proof of Hawaii residency, should they be forced to take the shuttle?
Public land is everyone’s land, not just the ones you decide.
wainihawahine@gmail.comWhat kind of A–H—e Agency would only provide “drop off” handicapped parking no matter what the law says is the minimum requirement? No one is going to “drop off” their handicapped or Kupuna with valid Handicapped stickers and leave them unattended!! This is Hawaii where we are suppose to respect Kupuna and disabled! The board walk may be compliant but what handicapped or Kupuna can walk 1/4 a mile on a narrow boardwalk with a cane and no handrail? GET A GRIP agencies and stop making stupid excuses and hiding behind a “minimum requirement” law. This is DISGUSTING !!!!! Disabled and Kupuna have a right to easily get the beach to sit, relax and enjoy.
As soon as the locals come up with the 77 million to rebuild the road then we can start talking about locals only access.
koakina@hawaii.rr.comWhat kind of A–H—e Agency would only provide “drop off” handicapped parking no matter what the law says is the minimum requirement? No one is going to “drop off” their handicapped or Kupuna with valid Handicapped stickers and leave them unattended!! This is Hawaii where we are suppose to respect Kupuna and disabled! The board walk may be compliant but what handicapped or Kupuna can walk 1/4 a mile on a narrow boardwalk with a cane and no handrail? GET A GRIP agencies and stop making stupid excuses and hiding behind a “minimum requirement” law. This is DISGUSTING !!!!! Disabled and Kupuna have a right to easily get the beach to sit, relax and enjoy.
If the residents of Kauai wanted to keep visitors to the islands out, they should not have accepted over $100 million in American taxpayer dollars to repair the road and implement the park’s master plan. That’s almost $250,000 per person benefitting the 340 residents of Haena and Wainiha, thanks to all the taxpayers of the US.
Because Kauai accepted the assistance of people beyond those that live on the island, all of us have the right to use what we helped pay for. If Kauai and the residents on the north shore beyond Hanalei want a gated community, they need to reimburse American taxpayers for the investments made in your infrastructure.
I have already bought my shuttle passes, got my reef safe sun screen and am planning on packing out any trash I find on the trails while hiking during my visit. I appreciate the plight of the locals and really do try to take that into consideration when being a tourist.
If the residents of Kauai wanted to keep visitors to the islands out, they should not have accepted over $100 million in American taxpayer dollars to repair the road and implement the park’s master plan. That’s almost $250,000 per person benefitting the 340 residents of Haena and Wainiha, thanks to all the taxpayers of the US.
Kinda sad when you’ve been commenting for over a decade and someone decides to take your avatar name. Hey “UncleAina” – don’t you have enough imagination to not steal my name?
Keep working on this. It will turn out right, eventually. Better to try, than not try at all! You won’t make everyone happy, but this is a start.
Thank you for working towards making our island better!
What kind of A–H—e Agency would only provide “drop off” handicapped parking no matter what the law says is the minimum requirement? No one is going to “drop off” their handicapped or Kupuna with valid Handicapped stickers and leave them unattended!! This is Hawaii where we are suppose to respect Kupuna and disabled! The board walk may be compliant but what handicapped or Kupuna can walk 1/4 a mile on a narrow boardwalk with a cane and no handrail? GET A GRIP agencies and stop making stupid excuses and hiding behind a “minimum requirement” law. This is DISGUSTING !!!!! Disabled and Kupuna have a right to easily get the beach to sit, relax and enjoy.
I find it rather funny ( in an odd sort of way), that TGI chooses to NOT print some comments, both here and in response to other “articles”, but has no problem repeating some posts two or three times, that repeat the SAME comments….as if!
Hey Remi, the residents of Kauai did not ask for and accept money from the state or feds. The road repairs were done without consulting any residents, so they didn’t have a choice in the matter. And if you knew anything about the changes and money spent at Ke’e in the state park you would know that plenty people didn’t want to build all that disneyland crap. It was forced on them. Your not contributing anything to this conversation when your uninformed. When was the last time you lived in a town with less than 500 residents that gets 750,000 tourists a year? Probably never because if you did maybe you wouldn’t spend your time defending over-tourism if you did. Do you even go out there? Or your just trolling for the sake of trolling.
Mahalo Gail for paying attention and letting us know that some visitors GET IT!!!!
Aloha and hope you have a wonderful time.