The Na Pali (‘The Cliffs’) Coast is the Hawaii of your dreams: 22 miles of vibrant green valleys with nearly vertical walls and thundering waterfalls plunging into the sea from cliffs as high as 4,000 feet. Hawaii’s last true wilderness, where no road will ever cross, it is protected as the Na Pali Coast State Park, whose 6,500 acres hug the northwest shore of Kauai between Ke’e Beach and Polihale State Park. You can view this magnificent piece of Eden by helicopter or boat, but the best way to experience the thickly jungled shore at the base of its craggy palisades is on foot.
Even fit, seasoned hikers find a challenge in the narrow, strenuous Kalalau Trail, an ancient 11-mile footpath that winds along imposing cliffs through the Hanakapi’ai, Hanakoa and Kalalau valleys—a remote, spectacular region that’s home to long-plumed tropical birds, golden monarch butterflies and many of Kauai’s rare and endangered plant species. The hike all the way to the end of the trail at Kalalau Beach is both gorgeous and gruelling, so
