The remote Polihale State Park is a popular West Kaua‘i beach for locals to swim, camp, fish and surf, but the park’s access gate has been closed for six weeks with boulders blocking the road. 

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks said it’s still waiting for the park’s 5-mile dirt access road to dry out before workers can remove mud and debris left by three storms that dumped heavy rain across Hawai‘i. The division also plans to resurface the road. 

Alan Carpenter, the division’s acting administrator, said the park has been closed since March 9 so it could be free of vehicles before the first Kona low storm. 

The road, accessible by four-wheel drive, often floods and washes out during heavy rains. Once a vast wetland, water in the Mānā Plain is now channeled through plantation-era ditches that don’t function as well as they used to and get overwhelmed by the immense amount of water from big storms, Carpenter said.  

“We’re essentially fighting nature,” he said. “That’s combined with the community sentiment to not improve the road because we don’t want to bring more people. So when nature does its thing, we’re at its whim. It’s a constant battle.” 

The division resurfaces the road every year, a project that would normally take a week. But repairing storm damage can take weeks and require hundreds of tons of rock fill material.

“Right now, we can’t even get the trucks in to deliver the rock to lay on top of the road,” he said. 

Polihale has had extended closures due to flooding in the past. The longest lasted for four months in 2009, Carpenter said.  

Some residents worry that the park won’t reopen until the road is smooth enough for both residents and visitors to access. 

“The important part is to get the local residents back out there,” said Kekaha resident Bruce Pleas, whose sons frequent the beach for surfing and fishing. In 2009, he was part of a community effort to repair the access road when the state didn’t have money to do it itself. 

Residents, he said, can deal with a bumpy dirt road, even if it means driving slowly. 

More: Polihale Park Is Poised For A $4.3 Million Makeover

But it’s not just the road that’s preventing Polihale from reopening. The park’s electrical and water services are out, and flooding in the surrounding area prevents them from being fixed. Electricity is needed to control the park’s water pumps, and water is needed for the bathrooms. 

“The road to our pump and our tank that services the park is also severely damaged,” Carpenter said. “It’s a weird skew of how we’re going to get this thing fixed again.” 

The division does not yet have a reopening date. 

Who Can Be Contacted? 

Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks, (808) 587-0300. 

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