Cliffs Trail in Kokee yields outstanding views!
Aloha,
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of hiking Cliffs Trail in Kokee. This is a short, easy trail leading to an overlook of Waimea Canyon. If you don’t have 4-wheel drive, you can start at the Halemanu trailhead right off Koke’e Road, walk down the dirt Halemanu Road, and end at the Cliff Trail overlook, for a pleasant two hour round-trip stroll. Halemanu Road is pretty rutted and narrow so we chose to park at the top and walk down. Besides extending this relatively short hike, it also gave us the opportunity to admire and photograph several different flowers that grow along the road. Here is one of the many beautiful flowers taken against the backdrop of the sky:
And another:
And one more:
The road in is all downhill to the actual trailhead. If you follow the trail a short distance, ( less than 1/2 mile) you’ll come out onto an open area offering spectacular Canyon views. Like this one:
There’s also a small waterfall nearby which we were able to walk across due to the diminished flow:
Here’s a picture of my hiking partner standing at the edge of the falls. What isn’t quite so clear in this picture is that he is standing at the edge of a very steep drop off down into the canyon:
It’s not a long hike by any means but you will get your cardiovascular going walking back up the Halemanu Road to Kokee Road as well as hiking to the canyon and water fall lookouts. If you’d rather have an awesome sight which requires little or no effort, you simply must drive to the end of Kokee Road to the Kalalau Lookout. On a clear day, you really will see this view:
If you aren’t sure where any of these places are, once you are on Island I recommend that you pick up a copy of the “Ready Mapbook of Kauai.” They cost under $20, can be found at Borders (by Kukui Grove Shopping Center in Lihue) or at Island Ace Hardware in Princeville, and provide the most comprehensive road guide to the Island. You’ll find all the Kokee / Waimea roads/trails in here. I wouldn’t rely on this mapbook for actual hiking trail information (there are much better resources for that) but it will get you to where you want to go. It really is Paradise!
Aloha, Elaine
Elaine Schaefer (R, GRI, ABR)
Broker in Charge – Princeville Resort Office
Graduate, Realtor’s Institute
Accredited Buyer’s Representative
Top Producer 100% Club
RE/MAX Kauai
Princeville Resort Office
POB 223632
Princeville, HI 96722
cell: 808 639 2935
home fax: 1 808 440 4552
email:soldonkauai@yahoo.com
website: www.kauairealestatenow.com
blog: www.blogs.alohaliving.com/princeville-condo-sales
……you can have your own piece of paradise
ask me how!
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