Discover Hawaii 
In the last couple of years, fees to visit Hawaii state parks have gone up considerably. Many that used to be free for everyone to visit now have a fee for both parking and entry. These fees are required for non-residents only as Hawaii state residents are exempt.
It was only back in October 2020 when many new or increased parking fees went into effect for Hawaii state parks. (You can read our coverage of those fees here.) Now, effective April 19, 2021, new entrance fees have gone into effect on top of those new or increased parking fees.
The increasing rate an implementation of new fees has been a bit fast. For example, on March 1, 2021, a brand new parking fee and reservation system was instituted for non-Hawaii visitors at Waianapanapa State Park off the road to Hana. That parking reservation fee is $10. Now, effective April 19, 2021, non-resident visitors must pay $5 per person to enter the park on top of the parking fee. So, for example, a couple from the mainland who want to visit Wai’anapanapa must pay $20 to visit — that’s $10 for a parking fee plus $5 per person entrance fee. That’s a substantial increase in less than two months, when, prior to March 1, 2021, it was free for all to visit.
Here’s a list of all the Hawaii state parks that just implemented a new entrance fee effective April 2021:
Kauai
- Ha’ena – this park requires pre-paid reservations as well.
- Kokee & Waimea Canyon – the same parking and entrance fees apply for both of these adjacent parks.
Oahu
- Diamond Head
- Nu’uanu Pali Lookout – per their website, the parking fee has gone up to $7 per non-resident vehicle. It appears that a per person entrance fee is not required.
Maui
- Iao Valley
- Wai’anapanapa – as previously noted, this park requires a reservation as well.
Hawaii (Big) Island
With the exception of Nu’uanu Pali Lookout, all the other listed parks have added a $5 per person entrance fee. These parks have different methods and processes for payment, so check their official pages for their policies. In the above list, we have linked to the official state park pages.
We’ve been covering Hawaii travel for 15 years and we remember when all these state parks, except Diamond Head, were free for anyone to visit. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be busy updating all our articles about these parks to add entrance fee information.
The post New entrance fees required at many Hawaii state parks effective April 19, 2021 appeared first on Go Visit Hawaii.
