Two months after the opening of Haena State Park, this project is a success.
Gone are the frantic days of chaos that centered around trying to find parking amid a mad scramble of people and cars, vehicles parked illegally. Gone are the days of far-too-many people coming and not enough going. Gone are the days of a sense of insanity in such a magnificent place.
It’s time to applaud the people behind this new program that, by recent indications, is working as planned and as hoped. It includes a permit system for visitors, a shuttle bus that is reducing traffic, increased fines for illegal parking, and its allows locals with identification to enter the area in their vehicle close to where Kuhio Highway ends on the North Shore and park in the new and improved parking lot. The boardwalk from the parking lot to Ke‘e Beach offers a nice sense of peace and relaxation — just the opposite of how it had been when walking on the road while avoiding traffic and people.
This is how it should have been. It’s been a long road to get here, starting with the rebuilding of Kuhio Highway.
The area was devastated during a historic April 2018 flood, which damaged hundreds of homes and the highway.
For more than a year, residents endured road closures, scheduled convoys, and the daily disruption of their lives. Prior to the flood, their lives were often disrupted by the thousands of people who visited the area each day to hike or enjoy Ke‘e Beach at the end of the road.
No longer.
The key to the plan is to control the number of daily visitors to Haena State Park by reducing it from the estimated 3,000 before to 900.
So far, it is working well. And, perhaps best, the area is being honored and protected, as it deserves.
Not everyone likes this new system, mind you. Some still aren’t aware of the permit program when they arrive at the entry station to Ke‘e Beach and are turned away for lack of visitor permits.
And some believe it could hurt tourism, because if thousands of people can no longer enter Haena State Park whenever they want, they won’t come back.
But this is a change that needed to be made. The area was saturated to the point of ruining it for guests and residents, and impacting the marine life. It’s common practice to pay an entry fee into state and national parks, so this is long overdue here.
Ke‘e Beach and the Kalalau Trail are two of this island’s most beautiful and precious places. Officials could no longer allow whoever wanted to go there whenever they wanted in as great of numbers as those sites could stand.
Let’s give credit to the state Department of Lands and Natural Resources and state Department of Transportation Highways Division for their roles in again giving the public access to this area, but with controls.
And while we can’t mention everyone who deserves credit, we must thank the Friends of the Kalalau Trail for their longtime commitment to maintaining and restoring sections of the first two miles of the trail.
At a blessing ceremony at Haena State Park earlier this year, state Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Suzanne Case said: “Our challenge is creating bridges between the old world and new world, between cultural and natural resources, between kama‘aina and visitors. It’s a lot of contradictions to hold, but today is reconciliation between an event that was so devastating and scary — and a new day. That’s why we’re here.”
Ed Sniffen, state DOT Highways Division director, added: “Since the April flooding I’d forgotten about the overwhelming beauty of this place. In every trip here, all I saw was damage and debris. Today was the first day I could look out the window and see the beauty of this community… a community that reminds me of what real strength is.”
We couldn’t agree more.
I like to kayak the Na Pali coast each summer. I’ve been launching at Kee Beach and paddle around to Polihale. But now, I can’t drive to Kee to drop off my kayak. I wish they would open the road to Kee beach for dropping off kayaks, etc. Otherwise, I will have to drop off at Haena beach park, adding another mile plus clearing a reef on the way out.
Thanks.
Anyone know if any locals have been turned away? We are planning to go up but were unsure if we would be able to go with the 30 space local parking limit.
There was plenty of parking when I was there on a weekday. Just show your driver’s license and go to the parking area.
ALL parking should be reserved for residents. ALL visitors should take the shuttle.
Ban all tourist,and we Kauaians will be eating coconuts,mangos and papayas,
Is there any reason behind your proposal? Or just selfishness? Do you think the road or the park, or the parking lot can tell the difference between a “visitor” and a “resident”? At the moment, the “visitors” are the ones PAYING FOR the park. Sales tax on your Cheetos sure doesn’t cover the cost.
Dear TGI, if visiting Haena was so chaotic and insane before the flood, why was it so popular? There never was a problem visiting Haena unless you asked the selfish ‘residents’ that didn’t want to share the park or were full of altruistic elitism as being the ‘protectors’ of the park. I wager that seldom if ever were there 3000 people visiting the park. Most would drive in, park, take a few photos and leave. Just like healthcare, there wasn’t a problem to begin with and government interference has made is so only the loudest complainers win.
Yes, TGI, it’s common practice to pay an entry fee into state and national parks…but EVERYONE pays something because the park doesn’t care where you came from and EVERYONE has the same access privileges. At Kee, if you have HI state ID you don’t have to pay anything! We stick it extra to the visitors to cover the cost of the parking lot. Have HI state ID? Come right in! No HI state ID? You need a reservation; earliest we can get you in is next Tuesday. Too bad if you are only here through Monday. Furthermore, every state and national park I have visited is manned by a uniformed state official so I know my entrance fees support the operation of the park and aren’t being funneled directly to the nearest vocal minority group. Here, not so much.
TGI, are you aware that there are part time ‘residents’ that live walking distance to Kee that now cannot walk-in to the park without a prior reservation because they don’t have a Hawaii ID? They already pay double the property tax rate that full time residents pay. Is this because they generate more trash than locals? No. Do they require more police/emergency services than locals? No. Regardless, they now must pay an entrance fee to the park that they once helped maintain by picking up litter and plastic and turning off the showers that some can’t manage to turn off when they are done. Alternatively, they can drive to Hanalei and pay to ride the shuttle after they make a reservation at least 24 hours in advance. Is this, “as it should be?”
Plastic boardwalk? Peaceful and relaxing? Really?
Friends of the Kalalau Trail, a genuine Thank You for maintaining the trail.
TGI, is there any more sunshine you would like to pump? I look forward to hearing it.
Many millions of tax payer dollars went toward fixing the Kuhio Highway–and not just from local taxpayers. That is an investment for everyone. If preserving the ocean and other natural sites is the main objective, then the next effort should address the cesspools and inadequate septic systems, along with the open construction sites in the watershed, that contribute directly to pollution of the ocean. If we’re all sharing the burden, then residents– particularly those who bring in short term renters–should invest in updating their sewage systems.
How exactly are short-term renters necessitating the need for updated sewage systems?
Is a tourist’s waste somehow more toxic than a long-term renter’s?
Or maybe the owners of short-term rentals, who pay DOUBLE property tax are somehow causing extra burden on sewage?
Not sure what your point is…
been up plenty , it’s cherray now
It could be better, it could be worse. Let’s keep moving forward.