The 4.5-hour tour ($129) involves 3 hours of hiking, a 500-foot ascent to a point with sweeping North Shore views, a scramble down a 10-foot rock wall, and swimming below an 80-foot cascade it’s open to ages 5 and up. If you don’t mind paying for the privilege, Princeville Ranch Adventures (808/826-7669) leads guided hikes on private land along the five tiers of Kalihiwai Falls. take an immediate left just past the Hanalei Bridge and look for the parking lot on the left and the trailhead across a small bridge to the right. It starts at a marked parking area off Ohiki Road, heading inland from Kuhio Hwy. Nearly as beautiful, but much less demanding and much less crowded, is the 2.5-mile Okolehao Trail in Hanalei, which climbs 1,232 feet to a ridge overlooking Hanalei Bay and the verdant valley. Allow 3 to 4 hours for the round-trip trek to the beach, and 7 to 8 hours with the falls added in. Those able to rock-hop can clamber another 2 miles inland to the 120-foot Hanakapiai Falls, but only when it has not been raining heavily. At Hanakapiai Beach, sandy in summer and mostly rocks in winter, strong currents have swept more than 80 visitors to their deaths over the years best just to admire the view. The trail can be very narrow and slippery in places don’t bring children who might need to be carried. You’ll see the occasional barefoot local surfer on the first 2 miles, but wear sturdy shoes (preferably hiking boots) and a hat, and carry plenty of water. People in good but not great physical shape can still tackle the 2-mile stretch from the trail head at Kee Beach to Hanakapiai, which starts with a mile-long climb the reward of Napali vistas starts about a half-mile in. That’s one reason a camping permit ($20 per night ) is required for those heading beyond Hanakapiai Beach the permits often sell out up to a year in advance (see “Camping & Cabins”). It’s on every serious hiker’s bucket list, and a destination for seemingly every young backpacking bohemian on the island. Traversing Kauai’s amazingly beautiful Napali Coast, the 11-mile (one-way) Kalalau Trail is the definition of breathtaking: Not only is the scenery magnificent, but even serious hikers will huff and puff over its extremely strenuous up-and-down route, made even trickier to negotiate by winter rains. The east trailhead, which has parking, is on Haleilio Road in Kapaa turn inland just past mile marker 6 on Kuhio Highway and head 1 1/4 miles uphill. A steady climb, but worth the vista at the top, is the 2-mile Nounou East Trail, which takes you 960 feet up the mountain known as Sleeping Giant (which does look like a giant lying down) the trail ends at a picnic shelter on his “chest,” and connects with the west leg about 1.5 miles in. In the arboretum, you’ll find the trail head for the challenging Powerline Trail, an unmaintained path that follows electric lines all the way to Princeville’s Kapaka Street, on the mauka side of Kuhio Highway avoid if it’s been raining (the mud can suck your sneakers off, or worse). Stay on Kuamoo Road till just before the Keahua Arboretum to pick up the scenic, 2.1-mile Kuilau Trail, often used by horses, which can be linked with the more rugged, 2.5-mile Moalepe Trail, ending at the top of Olohena Road in Kapaa. 580) past Opaekaa Falls, you can park at the trailhead for the easy, 2-mile Kuamoo Trail, which connects with the steeper, 1.5-mile Nounou West Trail both have picnic shelters. The dappled green wooded ridges of the Lihue-Koloa and Nounou forest reserves provide the best hiking opportunities here. Listings on the online “outings calendar” include descriptions and local phone contacts requested donation per hike is $5 adults and $1 for children under 18 and Sierra Club members. The Kauai chapter of the Sierra Club ( ) offers four to seven different guided hikes around the island each month, varying from easy 2-milers to 7-mile-plus treks for serious hikers only they may include service work such as beach cleanups and trail clearing. In Kapaa, they lead clients up Nounou, or Sleeping Giant ($81), and Kuilau Ridge ($85), Departing from Poipu Beach Park, naturalists with Kauai Nature Tours ( 888/233-8365 or 808/742-8305) lead a similar variety of day hikes, focusing on Kauai’s unique geology, environment, and culture they’re $155 to $185 adults and $135 to $155 for children 7 to 12, including lunch. He and his savvy guides lead regular trips (with shuttles from the Wailua River Marina) through Waimea Canyon to Waipoo Falls ($126) and through Kokee to dazzling overlooks of Napali via the Nualolo or Awaawapuhi trails ($126). For guided hikes, Micco Godinez of Kayak Kauai ( 888/596-3853 or 808/826-9844) is just as expert on land as he is at sea.
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