Lapakahi State Historical Park

We just stumbled upon this great place to see historical sights while heading back from a day exploring Kohala and Waimea. It’s a short .5 mile circuit walk but wear good shoes to navigate the rocky paths! The view of the bay at the shoreline is worth the trek down (and back up) the hill! Interesting ruins and a recreated house so you can imagine life 600 years ago.

So according to the 101 Things to Do in Hawaii, this was THE place to go to do some whale watching. No such luck. We also saw a sign to be careful of the monk seal, but no monk seal sighting either. Fail!
First off, be careful when using your GPS to find this place. GPS took us in a circle for a little bit. As long as you stay on Highway 270 you’ll be fine. Just follow it until you get to mile marker 14. You’ll see the big sign for the park.
Despite the high winds, it was nice to find this small hidden park, though. It’s a one mile walk through this place (which the sign says takes 45 to walk through). I think there’s supposed to be some kind of guided tour because there are number markers throughout the path, but we had no idea what they were there for. When we parked, there was a small office looking place that was closed. We went on a Sunday, so maybe they’re closed? Not sure. We just followed along the path in hopes of seeing something cool.
Definitely a nice place to check out the ocean if you’re not from Hawaii, but if you are, there are definitely nicer places to visit for an ocean view. Plus, we saw no whales as the book promised, so that was disappointing. Can’t blame the book, though… whales were just playing somewhere else at the time. We did catch some whales popping their flippers and tails out of the water on our way back home, though. Just keep your eyes open along Highway 270 and pull over to the side when you see them for a fun view!

Located off Hwy. 270 along the Kohala Coast, my brother took me to this 265-​acre park which is the site of an ancient Hawaiian settlement. It’s a pretty easy walk with paved trails. It was founded back in the 1300s and amazingly, the village was well-​preserved. The land was very fertile but it was also rocky and windy. If you have time, this is a great place to learn about some of the first settlements on the Big Island.