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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the State of Hawai‘i Department of Transportation Highways Division (HDOT), is looking forward to welcoming the community and visitors for the long awaited and anticipated opening the new Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Viewpoint site to the public on April 30, 2024.
The new viewpoint site will be the primary location for the public to visit the Hanalei NWR, where the public can safely view the many sensitive endangered species and habitats in the valley from a distance. The site will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The viewpoint is a 5.4-acre parcel located along Kūhiō Highway in Princeville that includes two lookouts featuring views of the greater Hanalei Valley and Bay, Hanalei NWR, and Halele‘a Forest Reserve. The site also includes parking for 25 cars, short-term parking for a maximum of three small buses, interpretive displays, vault toilets, and native plantings that will provide residents and visitors with opportunities to learn about the natural and cultural history of the Hanalei Valley and Hanalei NWR.
Hanalei NWR, which is one of three refuges within the Kauaʻi NWR Complex, provides one of the most important wetland habitat sites in Hawai‘i for the recovery of the endangered koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck), ‘alae ke‘oke‘o (Hawaiian coot), ‘alae ‘ula (Hawaiian common gallinule), ae‘o (Hawaiian stilt), and threatened nēnē (Hawaiian goose).
With its patchwork quilt of loʻi kalo and wetland management units, Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge is the oldest of Kaua‘i’s three national wildlife refuges. The 917-acre refuge was established in 1972 to recover threatened and endangered species, including endangered waterbirds that rely on the Hanalei Valley for nesting and feeding habitat. Learn more about the refuge by visiting our website: www.fws.gov/hanalei or call Jennifer Waipa at (808) 828-1413 x2228.
