WAILUA — State conservation officers wrote a slew of tickets at Wailua Falls this summer, according to new incident data from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The popular lookout area, at the end of Ma‘alo Road north of Lihu‘e, has an unofficial trailhead leading to the base of the falls. Signs warn people to stay off the dangerous trail.
But that doesn’t stop recreationists from skirting the site’s warning signs and fences to hike the often-muddy trail leading to the pool below. Thirteen people, including a Utah family of five, were cited for entering the closed area from May through August. All but one cited individual was an out-of-state visitor.
Such incursions can prove dangerous. In July, a 67-year-old California man fell 25 feet off the trail, sustaining apparent head injuries. He was taken to Wilcox Medical Center after a two-hour rescue operation involving police, fire and ambulance services.
“The trail is closed, and people should not be accessing the area through the barriers that are in place,” Kaua‘i Fire Department Chief Steven Goble told The Garden Island. “It puts them and our rescue teams at extreme risk.”
There have been five rescue calls at Wailua Falls so far this year. There were none in 2020 due to low visitor volume resulting from COVID-19 travel restrictions. Four rescue calls were made in 2019.
Alan Carpenter, assistant administrator of the DLNR Division of State Parks, did not mince words when approached for comment.
“There is no such thing as the Wailua Falls trail,” Carpenter said. “It has never been closed because it has never been open.”
A legal, authorized trail requires planning, environmental and cultural compliance, a survey, design and construction that meet recognized standards. None of these steps have taken place at Wailua Falls, and seemingly never will.
“State Parks would not endeavor to create a trail along a route that is too dangerous for the average person to navigate,” Carpenter said.
The lookout area would be unable to accommodate the parking demand associated with a dedicated trailhead as well, due to a lack of suitable state-owned land. The site’s “minimal number” of existing parking stalls fall within the state Department of Transportation right-of-way and are intended for vehicles making brief stops to view the falls, according to Carpenter.
Officials attribute chronic illegal egress at Wailua Falls to social media and websites that promote the site as a hiking destination. Indeed, a brief internet search returns blog posts and web pages providing instructions on how to make the trek.
