**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.
Haena State Park Entry and Parking Fees To Be Integrated In New Community-Based Management Structure
Posted on Jun 28, 2021Land Board Approves Hui Maka’āinana o Makana Partnership
Twenty years in the making, the Hāʻena communities’ efforts to fully participate in the protection and management of Hāʻena State Park took another evolutionary step today.
The Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) approved a one-year revocable permit (RP) for the non-profit Hui Maka’āinana o Makana to oversee and manage a Park reservation system, including collecting both parking and entry fees as well as an integrated shuttle system that will reduce the number of cars that enter the Park each day. The hui will also manage the cultural landscape of the park.
Hāʻena State Park is the gateway to the adjacent and world famous Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park, which benefits from the capacity-controls now in place at Hāʻena.
Hui Maka’āinana o Makana will subcontract The Hanalei Initiative (THI) to manage the reservation and parking system and to operate the shuttle, while the hui will conduct mālama ‘āina activities and resource enhancement in the park. THI is a community-based non-profit that is dedicated to finding sustainable solutions for pressing issues on the north-shore of Kaua‘i.
According to the DLNR Division of State Parks (DSP) board submittal, “…the two groups will work to develop an integrated operational plan that builds on the success of the established online reservation system (currently contracted to a private company)…to develop an integrated operational plan that builds on the success to allow a seamless, visitor-friendly reservation system for the shuttle, as well as the onsite-parking and entry for anyone wishing to visit Hāʻena State Park.”
State Parks Administrator Curt Cottrell commented, “This is both evolutionary and revolutionary. In 1999, Hui Maka’āinana o Makana was chartered with a focused place-based mission to care for cultural resources inside the park. Volunteers have dedicated thousands of hours to make the landscape one that is culturally and ecologically healthy. The hui and THI were instrumental in working closely with DSP after the 2018 torrential rains that caused significant damage at Hāʻena.”
The rain event and subsequent year-long closure of the park provided the opportunity to implement a number of improvements and management recommendations that were proposed in a park master plan that the tight-knit north shore community had contributed to over the course of two decades.
“It has always been the desire of Hui Maka’āinana o Makana and our community to protect Hā‘ena for generations to come. This is our ancestral home and it is our kuleana to care for this sacred place. We strive every day for ‘āina momona (a place that is healthy and prosperous) and we recognize that to achieve this we must create a balance between the desires of the numerous visitors who want to experience the natural beauty of this area and the unique recreational opportunities it has to offer, and the health of our natural and cultural resources and the very residents who call this place their home. We appreciate the opportunity to be a partner with State Parks in this journey towards sustainability and ‘āina momona,” said Presley Wann, President of Hui Maka‘āinana O Makana.
“The expanded role of Hui Maka’āinana o Makana in our partnership with DSP for the management of Hāʻena State Park is a huge step forward in the paradigm shift towards adaptive resource management and the development of community-based economic opportunities. Our community is very excited to see this happening after planning for it for over 20 years,” said Kirsten Hermstad, Hui Maka’āinana o Makana Executive Director.
The community-based management partnership at Hāʻena State Park is expected to become the exemplar for adaptive resource management at other parks, as appropriate.
DLNR and BLNR Chair Suzanne Case added, “The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as important legislation this year, prompted a significant shift to adaptive resource management. It moves management of natural and cultural resources in Hawai‘i into a realm where rules can be quickly and efficiently changed to reflect fast-changing economic and resource protection needs and factors, that serve local communities and all of Hawai‘i best.”
Hui Maka’āinana o Makana and THI anticipate the north shore shuttle service, which suspended operations during the pandemic, could be up and running again in July when the hui takes over the operations in the park. The RP provides the hui the ability to fully integrate a shuttle service.
The current RP with Republic Parking expires in July, and Hui Maka’āinana o Makana intends to coordinate a seamless handover to avoid as much interruption as possible.
DSP will receive all entry fees as rent when the shuttle service is operating. However, if Hui Maka’āinana o Makana does not provide a shuttle service, rent will be split 90% to DSP and 10% to the hui of net operating income. The one-year RP is on a month-to-month basis.
