Waianae Kai Forest Reserve
Managed by State of Hawaii
97 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Waianae
31% of Waianae’s land is conserved: 1,083 acres
4.8 miles of mapped trail cross Waianae, 0.9 per square mile of land. 83% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 73 acres are parks and preserves, 5.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns · #24 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Conserved land
31%
1,083 acres · of 5.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.8 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
73 ac
5.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
814 ft
Maunakūwale
What kind of outdoors town is Waianae?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Waianae have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Waianae is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #24 of 93 in Hawaii. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Waianae’s overall grade.
Conserved land31% of the land · typical HI town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · HI 0.5 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land5.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (73 acres) · HI 4 · U.S. 13CParks close to home83% of residents within a half mile of a park · HI 83% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 78%
LessMore
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)Ahead of 75%
Hawaii towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Waianae’s 31% is ahead of 82% of Hawaii towns, while its trails per square mile lead 65% of them.
Water is 24% of Waianae’s area (2 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 24%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. 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.
Waianae District Park
Managed by City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Herbert K. Pililaau Community Park
Managed by City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Kaupuni Neighborhood Park
Park
6 acres
Dogs allowed
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,083 conserved acres
31% of Waianae’s land. Water is left out: Waianae has 5.4 square miles of land and 1.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Waianae’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land941 ac
County133 ac
Town or city63 ac
Other state land3 ac
State Resource Management Area · 941 acLocal Other or Unknown · 124 acLocal Park · 73 acState Park · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Department of Land State Resource Management Area State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 941 | Open |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 124 | Unknown |
| Waianae Regional Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Pokai Bay Beach Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Kaupuni Neighborhood Park State Park | Other state land | 11 | Open |
| Herbert K Pililaau Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Lualualei Beach Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Shoreline Local Park | County | 9 | Open |
Things to do
12 places to go in Waianae
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Waianae
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Waianae
Surf spot
DirectionsWaianae Harbor
DirectionsPeaks in Waianae
Maunakūwale814 ft elevation
DirectionsPuʻumāʻiliʻili709 ft elevation
DirectionsPuʻupāheʻeheʻe623 ft elevation
DirectionsBiking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
12Tennis
11Basketball
5Baseball
2Volleyball
1Multi-sport
1Skate park
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Waianae: 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) | 11.0 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.2 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 12.2 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 10.8 |
| High (°F) | 79 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 82 | 83 | 85 | 86 | 85 | 85 | 82 | 80 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
July is the driest month (0.5 in) and August the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 3.2 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Waianae →
Next door
Waianae and its neighbors
Waianae has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waianae | 31% | 0.9 | 6 | 83% | A− |
| Makaha | 31% | 0.3 | 5 | 93% | B+ |
| Makaha Valley | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Waianae
How much of Waianae is conserved land?
31% 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 Waianae’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Kaupuni Neighborhood Park. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Waianae?
14,026 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Waianae or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 947 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Waianae have?
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #24 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 Waianae 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 →