On many Top 10 Trails in the world, the Kalalau Trail on Kauai draws hikers from all over the world.   The trail starts at the end of the road at Ke’e Beach on the North Shore and climbs across the steep slopes of the Na Pali Coast for 11 miles.   The first section traverses the pali to Hanikapi’ai Beach, a slow 2 mile hike each way.   The Hanikapi’ai Trail is a busy one with dozens of people attempting this first leg.

The trail climbs to a viewpoint where we can look back to Ke’e Beach and Haena State Park.

The spires of Bali Hai rises above the muddy and rocky trail.   Progress is slow to avoid slips on the ever-wet route.

The Kalalau Trail continues past Hanikapi’ai Beach to Honupu Beach then to Kalalau Beach.   There are 3 valleys above these beaches, each with trails going up to waterfalls and viewpoints under the cliffs of Koke’e State Park.

The small bay into Hanikapi’ai Beach has no protecting reef so the surf surges and crashes into the bay

Just before arriving at the beach a sign warns hikers about the dangers of the beach.   Over 83 people have died at the beach or at the stream crossing.   On our previous visit, a man had drowned the day before our hike on the Kalalau Trail.

For many hikers, the beach is the end-point for an out-and-back hike, a good spot for lunch watching the waves crashing in.   For others, the hike will continue up the Hanikapi’ai Valley for 2 muddy miles to Hanikapi’ai Falls and back to the parking area, an 8 mile hike taking about 5 hours.   Other hikers will push through to Hanakoa Valley (6.5 miles one way) or to Kalalau Valley (11 miles one way).   Hikers going past Hanikapi’ai need a permit.   The 11 mile hike is a slow one, an all day venture on cliff slopes, with a muddy or rocky surface.

We chose to go to the beach and back on this day, but we plan to backpack the entire Kalalau Trail in the future.

Along the way we saw some wild orchids in bloom and we were entertained by the many hikers who we saw along the way, some in sandals, beach shoes, or smooth tennis shoes.   We wore our light hikers and used poles and we still found it slippery on steep sections.   It reminded us of Angels’ Landing where completing the hike is an event, not just a rugged hike.

We will be back to hike or backpack the Kalalau Trail again.