Hiking in Koke'e on Kauai in Hawaii

I haven't done a whole lot of hiking on Kauai but the hiking I have done has been memorable. One of the memorable trips to Kauai for hiking took my wife, my daughter and I, along with a bunch of friends from the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, to Kokee on Kauai.

Kokee is a wonderful spot for hiking, and we did a lot of hiking on this trip back in June of 2005. We left Honolulu on Oahu on a Friday morning of Memorial Day weekend 2005 and we returned on Monday.

Our Koke'e home base was a lodge owned and operated by the Methodist church on Kauai. For more information about the camp, go here. I can't recall the amount that we paid for our stay, but there was ample room there for our group of a couple dozen hikers. Prior to getting to the lodge, we stopped in Lihue on Kauai to stock up on food, drinks, and various misc. items for our short stay.

We did several hikes during our time there. One great hike was into the Alakai swamp (7 miles roundtrip). A good part of this hike follows a boardwalk through native forest and swamp bogs to the Kilohana Lookout. Great views into Wainiha and Hanalei Valleys can be had from the Lookout. Unfortunately, we were clouded in on this trip, so no views. But the hike through the swamp was surreal and amazing. Plenty of mud but this hike is definitely worth it.

Another hike we did on this Kokee trip was the Waimea Canyon Ditch Trail which contours along the upper cliffs of Waimea Canyon, called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Tom Yoza's pics show many amazing shots of the Ditch Trail hike. Take a look-see. At that time, a section of the Ditch trail was overgrown and unmaintained and one section had suffered some massive landslide damage, but as experienced hikers, we were able to find the way safely. Plus, we enjoy adventure.

A third gem of a hike we did was Honopu Ridge. This trail is lesser-known and lesser used by hikers, but it is magnificent and amazing and ends with a spectacular narrow ridge section overlooking the Na Pali Coastline far below.

These three hikes are among the many of hikes that a visitor can do while in Kokee. And there are many different variations and combinations of different trails, so much so that one could spend a month there and do a different hike combination every day.

Hiking in Kokee on Kauai is highly recommended. I look forward to returning there soon.

In addition to the pics posted here, see more pics of our trip here. Click on the "View slideshow" link to view.