Wailuku School · Photo: Joel Bradshaw · Public domain14% of Wailuku’s land is conserved: 465 acres
93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 81 acres are parks and preserves, 4.8 per 1,000 residents. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Wailuku, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #51 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Wailuku?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Wailuku have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wailuku is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #51 of 93 in Hawaii. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Hawaii towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Wailuku’s 14% is ahead of 50% of Hawaii towns, while its trails per square mile lead 21% of them.
Water is 7% of Wailuku’s area (0 of 6 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 13%.
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.
Mokuhau Park
All 6 parks & preserves
465 conserved acres
14% of Wailuku’s land. Water is left out: Wailuku has 5.3 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Wailuku’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 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Landowner Watershed Protection Area Watershed Protection Area | Private owners | 239 | Closed |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 185 | Unknown |
| State Department of Land State Resource Management Area State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 39 | Open |
| War Memorial Sports Complex Local Recreation Area | County | 38 | Open |
| Iron Maehere Stadium Local Recreation Area | County | 11 | Open |
| Wells Park Local Park | County | 6 | Open |
| Kepaniwai Park Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Papohaku Park Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Mokuhau Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Wailuku Heights Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
4 places to go in Wailuku
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 lakes & rivers
1.7 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.
10 places on the National Register
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.
April is the best month for walking in Wailuku
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 | 13.1 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 12.8 | 12.2 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 10.9 |
| High (°F) | 82 | 82 | 83 | 85 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 86 | 83 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
June is the driest month (0.2 in) and September the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 2.8 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Wailuku →
Wailuku 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wailuku | 14% | 0.2 | 5 | 93% | B |
| Waihee-Waiehu | 8% | 1.6 | 2 | 96% | B+ |
| Kahului | 16% | 1.2 | 11 | 95% | A |
| Waikapu | 43% | 0.1 | 1 | 83% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wailuku
Where can I hike in Wailuku?
The longest trail networks: Papohaku Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wailuku is conserved land?
14% 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 Wailuku’s trails?
Wailuku Elementary School Park and Papohaku Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Wailuku?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of painted or protected lanes and 0.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Wailuku?
16,303 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wailuku or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 114 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wailuku have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #51 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 Wailuku 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 →