
**IMPORTANT PARK NOTICES**
Monitor weather reports before your park visit!
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[MAUI] UPDATED 6/4/25 – Kaumahina State Wayside - CLOSED June 12 to June 22 for tree removal project.
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[MAUI] UPDATED 5/23/25 – Mākena State Park - State Parks is issuing an Invitation for Bids (“IFB”) to qualified parties interested in a Mobile Food Truck Concession Agreement to operate a Mobile Food Truck (“MFT”) Concession at Mākena State Park. More information may be obtained on the following link: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/announcements/invitation-for-bid-for-sealed-bid-proposal-to-provide-a-mobile-food-truck-concession-at-makena-state-park-on-maui/.
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[OʻAHU] UPDATED 5/21/25 – Diamond Head State Monument (DHSM): Updated June Operating Hours - The rockfall mitigation project began January 6, 2025 and will run until September 5, 2025 or upon completion of the construction project at the Kahala Tunnel. Please check the Diamond Head State Monument website for updated park operation hours during this time.
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[MOLOKA’I] - UPDATE 5/19/25: Pala’au State Park Pavilion: Due to continued renovation work, the pavilion closure has been extended from June 1 to July 1. The Pala’au Canping Area has been CLOSED from May 30 to June 30, 2025.
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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.
Ulupō Heiau State Historic Site
UPDATE: 1/27/25 - Please park in the adjacent YMCA parking lot and walk to the heiau when the gate is closed. If you require ADA access assistance to visit Ulupō Heiau during gate closure, please stop by the Welcome Desk at the YMCA. Park hours are established to correspond with the YMCA hours.
Hours |
Park Hours: Mon-Fri = 7:00am to 7:00pm Sat = 8:00am to 3:00pm |
Entrance Fee | None |
Park Brochure |
History
It’s 1750. Kailua is the political seat of power for the district of Ko’olaupoko and a favored place of the Oʻahu chiefs for its abundance of fish and good canoe landings. The houses of the ali’i (chiefs), their families, and their attendants surround Kailua Bay. Behind the sand beach is the large, fertile expanse of Kawai Nui which has been converted to a fishpond surrounded by an agricultural fieldsystem. Kawai Nui is a large, 400 acre fishpond with an abundance of mullet, awa, and o’opu. Ka’elepulu and Nu’upia fishponds are nearby. The maka’ainana (commoners) provide support for this chiefly residence. Farmers grow kalo (taro) in the irrigated lo’i (fields) along the streams from Maunawili and along the edges of the fishponds. Crops of dryland kalo, banana, sweet potato, and sugarcane mark the fringes of the marsh. The fishermen harvest fish from the fishponds and the sea. The kahuna (priests) oversee the religious ceremonies and rites at several heiau around Kawai Nui. There is Ulupō Heiau on the east with Pahukini Heiau and Holomakani Heiau on the west side.
Hauwahine, the mo’o or guardian spirit, protects the people of Kawai Nui and assures an abundance of fish. The legendary association of Ulupō Heiau with the menehune suggests the antiquity of this site. The massiveness and quantity of rock carried many miles hint at its cultural importance. Tradition records Kualoa, more than 10 miles away, as one source of these stones.
It is likely that the function of this heiau changed over time. It probably began as a mapele or agricultural heiau with ceremonies and rites conducted to insure the fertility of the crops grown in Kawai Nui. In later times, it may have become a heiau luakini dedicated to success in war with structures erected atop this massive stone platform, including an altar, an oracle tower or anu’u, thatched hale, and notches in the terraces to hold the ki’i or wooden images. The spring off the corner of the heiau was another important feature related to the ceremonial traditions of the site.
Ulupō Heiau measures 140 by 180 feet with walls up to 30 feet in height. The construction of this massive terraced platform required a large work force under the direction of a powerful ali’i. Several Oʻahu chiefs lived at Kailua and probably participated in ceremonies at Ulupō Heiau, including Kakuhihewa in the 1400s and Kuali’i in the late 1600s. Kuali’i fought many battles and he may have rededicated Ulupō Heiau as a heiau luakini. Maui chief Kahekili came to Oʻahu in the 1780s and lived in Kailua after defeating Oʻahu high chief Kahahana for control of the island. Kamehameha I worked at Kawai Nui fishpond and is said to have eaten the edible mud (lepo ai ia) of Kawai Nui when there was a shortage of kalo. But by 1795 when Kamehameha I conquered Oʻahu, it is believed that Ulupō Heiau was already abandoned.
Ulupō Heiau was transferred from the Territorial Board of Agriculture and Forestry to Territorial Parks in 1954. In the early 1960s, through a joint effort of State Parks and Kaneohe Ranch, the stone walkway was placed atop the heiau and the stone paving was laid around the springs. However, this is not a sanctioned trail, please stay off the heiau. The bronze plaque was installed in 1962 by the Commission on Historical Sites. Ulupō Heiau is listed on the National and Hawaii Registers of Historic Places. At Ulupō Heiau, State Parks seeks to promote preservation of the heiau and heighten public awareness about the cultural history of Kawai Nui.
Malama Hawaii-Culture from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.