**IMPORTANT PARK NOTICES**
Monitor weather reports before your park visit.
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[STATE PARKS] — UPDATE 11/19/25: Upcoming Parking Fees at Select State Parks -Starting soon, Hawai'i State Parks will begin implementing parking fees for visitors at four high-use parks: [KAUA'I] Wailua River State Park, [O'AHU] Pu'u 'U'ala Ka'a State Wayside, [HAWAI'I] Kekaha Kai State Park, and Wailuku River State Park. These changes will support ongoing maintenance, cultural and natural resource protection, and improved visitor services. Additional details, including official start dates and rates, will be shared in the coming weeks.
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[KAUA'I] - 11/14/25: THE KALALAU TRAIL has REOPENED.
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[OʻAHU] – UPDATE 11/12/25: Kaʻena Point State Parks - Mokuleʻia Section – Kaʻena Point Vehicle Access Permits: We anticipate Ka’ena applications to open at the end of December 2025.
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[OʻAHU] – UPDATE 10/3/25: Sand Island State Recreation Area – Comfort stations are CLOSED until further notice due to a transformer issue impacting the pump. Portable toilets are available at each comfort station. Camping has continued to be CLOSED for construction from August 30th, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
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[O’AHU] - UPDATE 9/10/25: Mālaekahana State Recreation Area-Kahuku Section - State Parks is issuing a Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposals for parties interested in developing campgrounds. More info: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/announcements/malaekahana-state-recreation-area-rfq-rfp-2026/
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[MOLOKA’I] - UPDATE 8/29/25: Pala’au State Park Pavilion: Due to continued renovation work, the pavilion and camping is CLOSED until further notice.
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[KAUA’I] - 7/11/25: VISITORS TO WAIMEA CANYON AND KŌKEʻE STATE PARKS CAUTIONED TO EXPECT DELAYS AND LIMITED PARKING.
Beginning July 14, 2025, Waimea Canyon Lookout with be closed for construction of safety improvements through early December, 2025. This closure, in addition to several overlapping roadwork projects by both DOT-Highways and DLNR-State Parks, will cause delays, impact traffic patterns, and restrict overall parking capacity in these two popular parks through the end of the year. DOT work is continuing on Waimea Canyon Drive, while work on portions of Kōkeʻe Road from the Kalalau Lookout to Puʻu o Kila lookout will be starting the same week. Visitors can drive as far as the Kalalau Lookout, where improvements will also be initiated on July 17, with limited parking available. We urge patience and driving with care as these various improvements are ongoing. Local visitors are encouraged to enjoy these parks and lookouts on weekends, when most work will be suspended. Waimea Canyon Lookout will be closed for the duration of the project including weekends.
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[KAUAʻI] - UPDATE 3/21/25: Pā‘ula‘ula State Historic Site - Due to construction improvements, the park closure will begin starting March 24 until further notice.
“Kanaka Garden” in Wailoa River State Recreation Area Removed – Group Leader Cited for Three Violations
Posted on Jan 7, 20211/7/21 – (HILO) – Early this morning officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) stood watch as a crew from the DLNR Division of State Parks removed illegally planted taro and banana trees from the Wailoa River State Recreation Area.
The so-called“Kanaka Garden”was planted within the last week by a group claiming to have jurisdiction over the State land. 64-year-old Gene Tamashiro of Hilo, the group’s leader, was cited by DOCARE officers on three Hawai‘i Administrative Rules (HAR) violations that were outlined on a Cease-and-Desist Order that was delivered to him on Tuesday.
Tamashiro and several others were cited in 2013 on similar charges following an illegal planting operation at the Wailoa park. Officers also contacted two women who initially refused to leave the park, but they eventually left on their own accord. Wailoa State Recreation Area does not open until 7 a.m. each day, but a group of six or seven people were seen tending the football field-sized garden well before dawn.
State Parks supervisors estimate several hundred plants were pulled from the ground today. They were trucked to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo School of Tropical Agriculture where
viable plants will be returned to the ground. Crews will return to the park later today to assess any damage, which could lead to additional civil penalties against the people who planted the garden. State Parks workers will also need to return in the coming days to cover holes created during the planting.
DOCARE officers also removed a “Kanaka Garden” sign that detailed the groups claims of ownership of the property as well as several flags that had been erected at the park’s main entrance. Several occupiers stood with flags in hand as trucks carrying the plants away, passed them. A couple of tents that had been put up earlier in the week were previously taken down by their owners. Officers from the Hawai‘i Police Department and the Dept. of Public Safety Sheriff Division provided support for the operation.
Tamashiro will be required to appear in Hilo District Court on February 19 to answer charges of leaving abandoned property on public lands; unauthorized use of State lands for agriculture use; and introducing plants onto public property.
Kanaka Garden Removed, Jan. 7, 2021 from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.
Previous Article – 1/5/21 – A group of people who have illegally taken over a portion of Wailoa River State Recreation Area were notified this morning to cease and desist by 5pm tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 6).
Officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) taped one order on a sign the group had put up at the park’s entrance. Another was presented to the group’s leader and another was posted in a small encampment.
The group has planted between 50 and 60 taro plants and banana trees across a football-sized field in the popular and widely used State park. The participants are claiming jurisdiction over the park. They don’t have any permits for planting or for erecting signs at Wailoa.
Today a man sat at the park’s entrance drumming. Another person was mowing grass around the fresh plantings.
Eight years ago, the man leading the group was cited after similar illegal activities at Wailoa. DOCARE is working closely with the DLNR Division of State Parks to return the area to public usage.
DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla said, “No matter their professed claims of ownership, this recreation area and all other State Parks belong to all of Hawai‘i for the enjoyment by residents and visitors. Park users have expressed concerns that members of this group are ignoring County and State mandates to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Today about a dozen people appeared to be part of the group. Last weekend, media reports indicate the number had swelled to 75 or more.
The Cease and Desist order requires the group to remove tents and other camping gear or the materials will be considered abandoned property.
Wailoa River State Recreation Area Cease & Desist, Jan. 5, 2021 from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.
