parkverdict

By state

National parks in Hawaii

Every National Park Service unit in Hawaii, scored and ranked by our Experience Score.

Aerial photograph of trail through lava along the Hawaiian Coast 100ESSENTIAL NPS Photo

National Historic Trail · HI

Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail

Ala Kahakai is not a single trailhead experience but a 175-mile coastal corridor woven through living Hawaiian culture, ancient land divisions, and the raw lava-edged shoreline of the Big Island.

Rocky coastline with palm trees and a cliff beyon 83EXCELLENT Courtesy of J. Frank

National Park · HI

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

This is one of the few places on Earth where you can watch a landscape being actively built.

Painting of historic ceremony at Puʻukoholā Heiau 83EXCELLENT Herb Kane

National Historic Site · HI

Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site

Puʻukoholā Heiau is a compact but genuinely powerful historic site on the Kohala Coast where Kamehameha the Great built the war temple that unified the Hawaiian Islands.

A stone papamū (Kōnane playing surface) with Hale o Keawe and Hōnaunau Bay in the background. 76EXCELLENT NPS / Chisholm

National Historical Park · HI

Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park

Puuhonua o Honaunau is one of the most historically charged sites in the entire national park system, and it happens to be free.

The rehabilitation of Kaloko fishpond started in 1998 and still continues today.... 60WORTH IT NPS Photo

National Historical Park · HI

Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park

Kaloko-Honokohau is a free, genuinely underrated stop on the Kona Coast that rewards curiosity over comfort.

An evening photo of the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center Complex looking towards the museums. 57WORTH IT NPS Photo

National Memorial · HI

Pearl Harbor National Memorial

Pearl Harbor National Memorial is one of the most emotionally significant sites in American history, and the free admission makes the obligation to visit even clearer.

'Ahinahina blooms in Haleakala crater 52NICHE NPS

National Park · HI

Haleakalā National Park

Haleakala is two parks in one: a high-altitude volcanic summit where temperatures can drop to 30°F and sunrise draws serious early risers, and the lush Kipahulu coastal district where waterfalls feed swimming holes in a subtropical rainforest.

View of Kalaupapa Peninsula from Overlook 38NICHE Tylor Tanaka

National Historical Park · HI

Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Kalaupapa is unlike any other unit in the national park system.

An overview of the American Internee barracks 37NICHE Photograph by R. H. Lodge. Courtesy of Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i / Hawaii’s Plantation Vil

National Historic Site · HI

Honouliuli National Historic Site

Honouliuli preserves the site of one of Hawaii's largest World War II internment camps, where Japanese Americans and others were held under martial law.