Visitor reservations open Monday for Iao Valley State Monument

Starting 9 a.m. Monday, out-of-state residents will be able to make reservations to visit Iao Valley State Monument when it reopens May 1, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources announced today.

The popular Maui scenic spot has been closed for nine months for a $4 million slope stabilization project and is now the fourth state park in Hawaii to require advance reservations for nonresidents. The others are Diamond Head State Monument, Haena State Park on Kauai’s north shore and Waianapanapa State Park in Hana.

Iao Valley is 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 Iao Valley reservation system will mirror those in use at Diamond Head and Waianapanapa, which were introduced “following the pandemic and were the result of overcrowding and a glut of commercial tours,” DLNR said in a news release.

All state park day-use reservations can be made at gostateparks.hawaii.gov. The parking fee is $10 per vehicle, with an additional nonresident entrance fee of $5 per person, with no charge for children under 3 years of age. There are separate fees for commercial vehicles.

“Hawaii residents with a valid driver’s license or State ID, continue to get into all of our parks free of charge, and we intend to keep it that way, as we move forward with adding new parks to our reservations system. However, any out-of-state visitor in a vehicle with a Hawaii resident still needs to have a reservation,” said Alan Carpenter, assistant administrator of DLNR’s Division of State Parks.

He’s hoping visitors will know well in advance of arriving in Hawaii that they’ll need reservations at some of the most popular parks.

DLNR said that while there are no plans to require visitor reservations at all state parks, a system is being considered for Makena State Park on Maui.