Waialeale Blue Hole Hike

The 'Blue Hole' is at the base of Wai'ale'ale, which is known as the wettest spot on earth. Locals refer to this location as the Wailua river headwaters; it's where you see the falls coming down the wall. This page is meant to direct you to the Weir where you can see into the Wai'ale'ale basin. This page is not meant to direct you to the actual 'Blue Hole' - for that we highly recommend a guide (see below).

At the end of Highway 580, Kuamo'o Road will end abruptly at a spillway. We believe for most travelers this is where you should park and begin your hike. The drive beyond the paved highway is very rough, bumpy, often muddy, and dangerous in spots (especially when crossing streams).

The road heads inland beyond Kuamo'o Road and the Wailua Reservoir to the Keahua Arboretum. You will cross a second spillway just past the arboretum followed by a series of power towers. You'll quickly see why it was a good idea to hike this versus using your rental car. Truck-swallowing pot holes and puddles the size of small lakes would be sure to slow you down and ruin your car. Continue along the Wailua Forest Management Road (maintained by Na Ala Hele). The road will bear right and continue for about .5 of a mile until you reach a major fork in the road. Here you will see a Hunting Unit C sign nailed to a tree asking people to not pick up "lost" hunting dogs. If for some reason you have made it this far by driving, do not try to drive any farther unless it has been extremely dry recently (not likely). The road gets even worse beyond this point. If you take the right fork for about one mile you will be at the Waialeale Stream Convergence. Here the Wailua River is joined by two streams all heading to Wailua Bay. But this isn't what you've come to see.

Back at the fork, the left trail crosses streams and winds through the dense forest for about 1.5 miles to the, 'Gate,' used in "Jurassic Park." During our last visit in mid-2009 the gate was open; which for us was a first. If it's open and you've driven this far, we suggest parking at the Waikoko (Jungle hike) trailhead, which is about 0.15 of a mile from the diversion (locals call it the 'weir'); we suggest this because locals drive all the way to the weir to hang out.

Beyond the gate, you'll stroll for about half an hour through lush outcroppings of banana, Ti plants and ginger to the water diversion - a hand dug ditch and concrete dam (weir) which helps divert water from the Wailua River. In front of you are the lush green walls of Waialeale Crater etched with long trails of waterfalls. On those rare, clear occasions this is a great view. Or you can just sit for awhile and watch the clouds drift in and out of the crater along with some helicopters.

For those intrepid, not to mention fit and experienced, hikers who want to get up close and personal with the "Blue Hole," expect to do a lot of stream crossing and bolder hopping (we recommend tabis, felt-soled shoes). We also highly recommend you consult a knowledgeable guide to take you beyond the weir; our personal recommendation is Scott at Kauai Hiking Adventures. It's a long, several mile, trek up the streams to the back wall. As you bolder hop up the streams, when you get to a three-way waterfall (aka what some call "Guardian Falls" or the 'three-way convergence'), you have to find/climb your way up, continue via another stream, and cross over some small ridges before you reach the headwaters (back wall or true 'Blue Hole'). We have found a 7.5' TOPO map created by the USGS of this route and we have cropped it accordingly: Waialeale Topo Map. The only real issue with this topo is that it does not accurately represent the streams. It shows only two streams near the west wall where there are in fact three. Additionally the TOPO makes it appear that one creek originates east of Kawaikini and then down a 45-degree canyon on the south end of the inner wall. These walls are actually vertical.

This site or this site should provide you additional information and/or photos to help you if you decide to make this trek. Never hike this alone or during bad weather. Additionally, be advised that at the weir you may notice that there is a trail on the other side of the stream, but it should be avoided since it does not go to the 'Blue Hole,' it just abruptly ends in the forest.

If you don't feel like making this trek on your own, you can still get to the views of the back wall near the dam/weir by taking a guided tour. During a previous visit we decided to give the tour a try and really enjoyed it. If you can hike it, the following should provide additional details on how to get to the dam view. As we noted above, if you plan to go beyond the damn/weir, then we definitely recommend a guide, our recommendation being Kauai Hiking Adventures.

The route in can be a bit confusing, so we've included a rough Wai'ale'ale Blue Hole route map to help.

-DRIVE 7 miles (all paved) to parking lot at end of Kuamo'o Road and park.
-Cross the first spillway next to parking lot. Keahua Arboretum is on your left.
-At 0.1-mile is the Kuilau trailhead on the right (also trailhead for Powerline)
-At 0.5-mile is the second spillway. Use caution crossing and don't cross at all if the water is up and/or moving fast.
-Continue 1 mile along straight road until it makes a right toward the Waialeale basin. In another .5-mile is a fork in the road.
-Take a LEFT at the fork (C-dog) sign. From here it's 1.5 miles to the gate.
-It's another 0.5 miles (approx) to the diversion (weir) where the 'Blue Hole' hike begins

Total Mileage: 0.5 (to Second Spillway) + 1.5 (to the road fork) + 1.5 (to the gate) = 3.5 miles one way (7 RT) not including half-mile hike to the 'Blue Hole' viewpoint. So 8 miles total round trip if you stop at the weir. The distance will be much further if you continue towards the 'back wall.'

Location: Waialeale Blue Hole Hike is located in the Central Kauai