Lihue-Koloa Forest Reserve
Managed by Hawaii Department of Fish and Wildlife
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Lawai
Few parks or trails are on the map in Lawai
1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Lawai. 4% of Lawai’s land is conserved, about 102 acres.
Ahead of 12% of U.S. towns · #91 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
102 acres · of 4.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
8
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lawai have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lawai is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #91 of 93 in Hawaii. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lawai’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical HI town 14% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · HI 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · HI 4 · U.S. 13DParks close to home1% of residents within a half mile of a park · HI 83% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 12%
LessMore
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)Ahead of 2%
Hawaii towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Lawai’s 4% is ahead of 21% of Hawaii towns, while its trails per square mile lead 7% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Lawai. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
102 conserved acres
4% of Lawai’s land. Who manages Lawai’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources65 ac
State Department of Land33 ac
County5 ac
State Conservation Area · 65 acState Resource Management Area · 33 acLocal Other or Unknown · 5 ac
Good to know
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.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lihu'e-koloa Forest Reserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 65 | Restricted |
| State Department of Land State Resource Management Area State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 33 | Open |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 5 | Unknown |
Trails & water
8 lakes & rivers
When to get out
The best walking months in Lawai: 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) | 10.9 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.2 | 13.5 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 12.2 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 10.8 |
| High (°F) | 79 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 82 | 83 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 84 | 81 | 79 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 3.6 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.6 |
July is the driest month (1.8 in) and September the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.6 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Lawai →
Next door
Lawai and its neighbors
Lawai 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawai | 4% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 1% | D |
| Kalaheo | 4% | 0.3 | 4 | 56% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lawai
How much of Lawai is conserved land?
4% 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 Lawai’s trails?
Lihue-Koloa Forest Reserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Lawai?
9,089 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lawai or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 33 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lawai have?
Ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #91 of 93 in Hawaii. 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 Lawai neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
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 →