Nounou Forest Reserve
Managed by Hawaii Department of Fish and Wildlife
118 acres0.3 mi of trail
Nounou East Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Nounou East Trail HeadWebsite ↗
Photo: Hotboxers · CC BY-SA 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Wailua
37% of Wailua’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 37% of Wailua’s land is conserved, about 376 acres. 71 acres are parks and preserves, 26 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns · #2 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Conserved land
37%
376 acres · of 1.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.0 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
71 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
2 beaches
What kind of outdoors town is Wailua?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wailua have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wailua is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #2 of 93 in Hawaii. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Wailua’s overall grade.
Conserved land37% of the land · typical HI town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · HI 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (71 acres) · HI 4 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · HI 83% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 95%
LessMore
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)#2 of 93
Hawaii towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Wailua’s 37% is ahead of 87% of Hawaii towns, while its trails per square mile lead 53% of them.
Water is 17% of Wailua’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 32%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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
The longest trail network is Nounou Forest Reserve, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wailua River State Park
Managed by Hawaii Division of State Parks
34 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
376 conserved acres
37% of Wailua’s land. Water is left out: Wailua has 1.5 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Wailua’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land194 ac
State natural resources115 ac
State parks34 ac
Private owners22 ac
County12 ac
Town or city9 ac
Other state land5 ac
State Resource Management Area · 194 acState Conservation Area · 115 acState Park · 34 acLocal Park · 31 acLocal Other or Unknown · 12 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 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 | 194 | Open |
| Nonou Forest Reserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 115 | Restricted |
| Wailua River State Park State Park | State parks | 34 | Open |
| Coconut Beach Park Local Park | Private owners | 22 | Open |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 12 | Unknown |
| Wailua Homestead Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Waipouli Beach Park State Recreation Area | Other state land | 5 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Wailua
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Wailua
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Wailua
Swing
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Nounou East Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Wailua: 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 | 13.4 | 12.9 | 12.2 | 11.6 | 11.0 | 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 Wailua →
Next door
Wailua and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wailua | 37% | 0.7 | 26 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Wailua Homesteads | 53% | 0.9 | 67 | 72% | A |
| Kapaa | 28% | 0.5 | 5 | 42% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wailua
Where can I hike in Wailua?
The longest trail networks: Nounou Forest Reserve, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wailua is conserved land?
37% 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 Wailua’s trails?
Nounou Forest Reserve and Wailua River State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Wailua?
2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Wailua?
11,350 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wailua or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 257 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wailua have?
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #2 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 Wailua 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 →