Polihale reopens for overnight camping

POLIHALE — After being closed to overnight camping for more than two years, Polihale State Park will reopen for overnight camping Sunday, Aug. 14.

Reservations are available online now.

“We look forward to welcoming overnight campers back to Polihale, in limited numbers as is befitting the place,” said state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of State Parks Assistant Administrator Alan Carpenter.

“The late-summer timing of this reopening is deliberate, as holiday weekends have seen the heaviest use and most damage to Polihale’s fragile resources due to heavy use. By next summer, we intend to have additional protective measures in place, including a pair of new Westside park (rangers) to patrol and educate park visitors.”

Since Dec. 2020, Kaua‘i’s popular beach and camping area has been restricted to day use only. Camping without permits, driving on the beach and dunes, and careless behavior in general led to the indefinite closure of the park that July, DLNR said.

Going forward, the DLNR Division of State Parks expects overnight visitors will camp responsibly and take steps to re-establish positive stewardship of the area.

Stories of Hawaiian marine life rebounding in the absence of people during the pandemic have been common. Since the 2020 shutdown of Polihale, two monk seal pups have been born in the park. One is just weeks old, and the pup’s mom is still nursing her on the beach. Notably, these are the first two recorded monk seal pup births at Polihale since 1962.

Aside from its natural beauty, with spectacular cliffs and a stunning beach, the park is also a setting of cultural significance. The sand dunes, with some reaching upwards of 100 feet high, contain Hawaiian burial sites and are key habitat for critically endangered plant species lau‘ehu and ‘ohai. The DSP hopes a greater awareness of the value of Polihale can change mindsets and improve the overall conduct of park users.

DSP has taken proactive steps, including installing additional signs and placing numerous boulders as barriers to unauthorized vehicle pathways through the most-sensitive areas of the dunes, between Po‘oahonu (Queen’s Pond) and the developed camping areas.

In addition, DLNR has enlisted the services of PBR Hawai‘i to kickstart a public-outreach and consultation effort with the aim of planning future management and improvements at Polihale to enhance protection of resources and quality of experience.

PBR Hawai‘i is the firm that helped shepherd the Ha‘ena State Park Master Plan through implementation. That plan has been lauded as a model for community-based management and for mitigating overtourism. The Polihale survey is an opportunity for the community to share inputs and concerns on a vision for the park, and can be accessed at the DLNR website, dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/kauai/polihale-state-park/.

The remote location and sheer size, however, make enforcement of park rules at Polihale a challenge, DLNR said in a press release. Should old abuses return, camping could be shut down again. That’s where help from dedicated residents comes in, as even with posted rules and hours, it is a shared kuleana.

Malama ka‘aina includes staying alert to suspected illegal activity. Anyone who witnesses suspicious or illegal actions in a Hawai‘i state park is asked to call the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement immediately at 808-643-DLNR (3567), or download (free of charge) the DLNR Tip app, which allows real-time reporting along with the submittal of photographs.