Qualla: Kalalau Trail

Kalalau Trail: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit RndmCrs, CC0. The warning sign at the Hanakapiai stream crossing keeps a tally. Scratched into the wood are hash marks counting the people who have drowned attempting to ford this single crossing, which sits just two miles into the eleven-mile Kalalau Trail. Flash floods arrive without warning. The stream can go from ankle-deep to chest-high in minutes. In February 2013, a woman died in exactly this way while fifty-four other hikers were stranded overnight on the far bank. The Kalalau Trail runs along the Na Pali Coast of Kauai, hugging cliffs that drop hundreds of feet into the Pacific, crossing streams that swell with every rain, and climbing from sea level to 800 feet in barely two kilometers. It has been called the most incredible hike in the United States. It has also stranded, injured, and killed people who underestimated it.

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Image: RndmCrs | CC0

Kalalau Trail: Eleven Miles of Edge

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Heath Cajandig, CC BY 2.0. The trail begins at Ke'e Beach on Kauai's north shore and ends at Kalalau Beach, a crescent of sand at the base of a valley walled in by 2,000-foot cliffs. Expert hikers and trail runners can complete the twenty-two-mile round trip in a single day, but the average hiker needs at ...

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Image: Heath Cajandig | CC BY 2.0

Kalalau Trail: The Crossing at Red Hill

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada, CC BY 2.0. After Hanakapiai Beach, the trail makes its most demanding climb, ascending 800 feet over roughly two kilometers through increasingly remote terrain. The section known as Red Hill, near mile marker seven, has been the site of multiple accidents. In August 2014, a hiker died after...

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Image: Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada | CC BY 2.0

Kalalau Trail: The Valley at the End

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brian W. Schaller, FAL. The trail descends Red Hill and crosses Kalalau stream before opening onto Kalalau Beach, where the valley floor spreads nearly a mile wide. Camping permits are limited to five consecutive nights, and only sixty permits are issued for each night, a number that reflects both ecolo...

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Image: Brian W. Schaller | FAL

Kalalau Trail: When the Mountain Decides

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Humanoid one, CC BY-SA 3.0. The trail's history includes a pattern of events that reinforce its reputation. In December 2012, a hiker was pushed from a cliff by another man and critically injured; the perpetrator was arrested months later and sentenced to five years for attempted murder. In April 2014, heav...

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Image: Humanoid one | CC BY-SA 3.0