The Kalepa Ridge Hike: what not to do
Kalalau Lookout at Waimea Canyon State Park. Kauai, Hawaii. January 2022
What you need to know to Hike the Kalepa Ridge Trail
What: Unofficial trail that begins at the Kalalau Lookout in Koke’e State Park and continues along the ridge line between Kalalau Valley and Honopu with sweeping views of the valley and Napali coast.
Distance: 1.9 miles
Difficulty: Difficult and for advanced hikers only
Where: Should you still want to do this hike after reading this post, you will find the start of the trail at the end of the railing to your left when looking out over the ocean at Kalalau Lookout. You have to hike behind the protective boundary and past a sign indicating that you should not walk there. The trail is muddy and well-worn.
The Mistakes We Made on Kalepa Ridge
Mistake 1: When it comes to picking a trail, I usually spend several hours researching trails in each area before picking one for our family. Difficulty, length, and pay-out all have to be taken into consideration. I had done this for Kauai, but decided, at the last minute, to abandon my careful research and take the advice of a local on this one. I did a quick search to find the location, read a brief intro to the hike, saw that it was only 1.9 miles long with great views, and we went for it. This was a huge mistake! A series of errors lead to this hike being a complete failure for our family.
Mistake 2: This is an unmarked, common use trail that starts at a fence with a sign that says something to the effect of “do not hike here, you might die.” I forgot to screenshot the info and map for the hike and was unable to pull it up once we got to the parking lot in the middle of nowhere. This resulted in us wandering around the parking lot and the Kalalau Lookout for 10 minutes trying to find the trail and then following the wrong trail for an additional 15 minutes before we ran into a dead end at some sort of animal trap, turned around, and finally found the Kalepa Ridge Trail 30 minutes later. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but it ruined everyone’s confidence in me and set the wrong tone for a hike that really required a lot of confidence and a determined attitude.
The Napoli Coast as seen from the Kalepa Ridge Trail leaving from the Kalalau Lookout. Kauai Hawaii. January 2022
Mistake 3: I don’t usually shy away from difficult trails now that our kids are older and able to hike 10+ miles a day, but I do usually read reviews about why the hike is rated as difficult. Elevation change, uneven ground, tree roots, and climbing over rocks we can do. The difficulty of this hike, however, included an element we weren’t mentally prepared for, danger. This trail winds along a narrow ridge with breathtaking views and sheer drops along the way. We are used to steep drops hiking at the Red River Gorge, but this trail was different because the ground was loose and muddy alongside the steep drop offs. This made the hike terrifying. On a good day, we could have overcome it, but, as I mentioned before, I had already lost their confidence. Confidence and a calm, steady mind are required to do this hike and at least 2 out of 5 Owens lost one or both of those along the way.
So, what happened on the Kalepa Ridge Trail?
We completed the first half mile of this hike with continual complaining and questioning from one child. The views were spectacular from the start and, on the bright side, we were lucky to have a day with no clouds. We eventually came to a very narrow section alongside a 500 foot drop. One child refused to do the section and sat down. For one of the first times ever, Joey got visibly scared, which fueled one child’s fears. I hiked through the section with the boys with no problem. Joey followed and we left our emotional child sitting on the edge of a cliff.
One child on the edge with a sympathy visit from their sibling.
We realized that was bad parenting and I hiked back to get them. I forced her to do the scary section and she made it across. We then came to a very muddy and steep, but not dangerous part of the trail. One child slipped and fell and it was game over. This resulted in a full family meltdown with tears and punishments and all. At this point, we realized a level headed traverse along dangerous cliffs was no longer possible. Joey, Bailey, and Gus sat down in a shady, open, and safe grassy section of the hike and
Wilson and I hiked on alone. We made it another .25 miles and then the clouds started rolling in. Having lost our visibility and left our family behind, we decided to turn around as well.
This is the first hike we have ever started and not finished. It also turns out that there is an alternate trail alongside the main trail that we could have taken to avoid the steep sections. Since I hadn’t read about the trail beforehand, I didn’t realize this. It was a massive blow and really ruined the family morale for about 30 minutes. Fortunately, seeing the silver lining is one of my specialties and we recovered somewhere along the 1 hour drive back to the condo.
Good things that came out of the Kalepa Ridge Hike:
The views were fantastic from the start.
We didn’t die or even get hurt.
I learned some valuable lessons and it reinforced principles I usually follow but abandoned on this day.
Conclusion:
Do your research, avoid common use trails unless you have someone with you that has first hand experience, save/download your map and directions, and always dig in to find out why a trail is rated as difficult. If it involves dangerous drops, consider picking another trail to do with kids.
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Me helping Bailey recover from the hike with unwelcomed hugs and kisses.