Keaau has 9.9 miles of mapped trails, 1.6 for every square mile of land
24 acres are parks and preserves, 17 per 1,000 residents. 1% of Keaau’s land is conserved, about 56 acres. 57% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Keaau?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Keaau have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Keaau is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Hawaii towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Keaau’s 1% is ahead of 9% of Hawaii towns, while its trails per square mile lead 86% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Panaʻewa Forest Reserve
56 conserved acres
1% of Keaau’s land. Who manages Keaau’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Department of Land State Resource Management Area State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 23 | Open |
| Kea'Au Shipman Park Local Park | Private owners | 17 | Open |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 12 | Unknown |
| Pana'ewa Forest Reserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 4 | Restricted |
1 places to go in Keaau
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
4.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Keaau: April to August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 11.1 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.1 | 13.3 | 13.2 | 12.8 | 12.2 | 11.7 | 11.2 | 11.0 |
| High (°F) | 75 | 76 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 79 | 79 | 80 | 80 | 79 | 77 | 76 |
| Rain (in) | 10.1 | 12.9 | 15.4 | 12.6 | 9.6 | 9.1 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 11.2 | 13.3 | 17.8 | 14.6 |
June is the driest month (9.1 in) and September the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 17.8 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Keaau →
Keaau and its neighbors
Keaau has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keaau | 1% | 1.6 | 17 | 57% | B |
| Kurtistown | under 1% | 2.8 | 1 | 8% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Keaau
How much of Keaau is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 14% for a Hawaii town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Keaau’s trails?
Shipman Park and Panaʻewa Forest Reserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Keaau?
4.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of painted or protected lanes and 4.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Keaau?
30,505 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Keaau or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 41 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Keaau have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Keaau neighbors.
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →