WAILUKU, Maui >> When Iao Valley State Monument soon reopens after a nine-month closure for a slope stabilization project, it will become the fourth state park in Hawaii to require advance reservations for nonresidents.
The park is one of Maui’s most popular scenic spots, famed for Kukaemoku, more commonly known as Iao Needle, a natural feature formed by erosion that rises 1,200 feet from the valley floor. The site also has cultural and spiritual significance as a former Hawaiian settlement and scene of the Battle of Kepaniwai where Kamehameha I’s warriors conquered Maui forces in 1790.
The new parking system at Iao Valley represents further efforts by the state to manage the impacts of over-tourism on Hawaii’s natural resources by scheduling visits throughout the day to avoid overcrowding while generating revenue for the statewide park system.
Diamond Head State Monument, Haena State Park on Kauai’s north shore and Waianapanapa State Park in Hana already require advance reservations for visits by nonresidents. As at those locations, Hawaii residents will be able to visit Iao Valley State Monument without a reservation and will not have to pay parking or entrance fees.
At least one other state park, also on Maui, is being considered for a similar system, according to Alan Carpenter, assistant administrator of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks.
“Though all of our parks can benefit from increased staffing and management, not all have the visitor numbers and particularly nonresident traffic to warrant advance reservations,” he said. “However, a few may, and the next one up for consideration is Makena State Park.”
The Wailuku park, which includes a short trail to the Iao Needle lookout and a paved path that loops through an ethnobotanical garden, has been closed since Aug. 1 for the final phase of a $4 million slope stabilization project stemming from damage caused by intense rain and flooding in September 2016. It was supposed to reopen in January, when DLNR instead announced an extended closure through April 15. This week the agency posted a notice on its website that the park’s reopening “has been postponed until further notice.”
But the gates might open sooner rather than later, and with the new parking reservation system in place.
A “pre-final inspection” of the slope stabilization project — which Carpenter described as a “significant engineering feat” — was done earlier this week, and he said the reopening of Iao Valley State Monument is “imminent.”
But first, a few items such as tree trimming and painting remain “to spruce things up” after the prolonged closure, he said, and the new parking system must be tested and workers hired by vendor REEF Parking, more familiarly known as Republic Parking. Information on how to make reservations and other details will be revealed when DLNR formally announces the reopening.
“The reservation systems in many ways are meant to manage people and enhance the visitor experience, and the ones who benefit the most from them are locals, because we always have a hold-back for locals to enter the park,” Carpenter said.
“One-third of the parking spaces (at Iao Valley) will be held back, and locals can enter whenever they want. Visitors will have to have advance reservations and pay their fees before they come in, so what that does, basically, is we’re inviting locals back to their own backyard parks without the mayhem.”
An estimated 500,000 people visited Iao Valley State Monument annually before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 25% of them Hawaii residents, according to Carpenter.
Parking fees there for nonresidents were first established in 2010 and remain at pre-closure rates of $10 per vehicle for parking and $5 per person for entry, with higher fees for commercial vehicles.
In the 2022 fiscal year, the park netted $1.16 million in parking fees. All revenues collected at state parks are deposited into the State Parks Special Fund “to pay operating costs and to reinvest in the park system,” Carpenter said.
Iao Valley State Monument has been closed off and on since the extreme flooding in 2016, which damaged or destroyed concrete walkways, pedestrian bridges and the parking lot, along with nearly two dozen homes downstream. Floodwaters cut a nearly vertical slope into the embankment below the parking lot, claiming 20 feet of grassy park.
In March 2017 the state hired contractors to perform $1.8 million in emergency repairs to temporarily stabilize the slope supporting the main parking lot and garden area. The bulk of the project involved applying a thin layer of shotcrete — concrete shot from a hose at high velocity — over approximately 500 feet of the exposed slope and constructing a concrete boulder revetment along the embankment’s base.
The park reopened in November 2017, but when COVID-19 hit the islands, DLNR closed the site “due to crowding concerns and budgetary constraints,” it announced at the time. Iao Valley State Monument reopened in November 2020 before closing in August for the final phase of slope stabilization and parking lot improvements.
The work included installing soil nails into the embankment for reinforcement and applying a thick layer of shotcrete over the initial layer and newly installed nail heads, according to DLNR. Additionally, the parking lot was expanded to 60 stalls, and vehicle turnaround areas were enlarged.
Once open again, hours at Iao Valley State Monument will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the last entry at 4:30 p.m.
