Old Trail Rediscovered

October 26, 2005 | In Hiking, Waterfalls |

As an avid hiker and explorer on Kauai, I’m always on the lookout for a new trail. So when I heard there might be a path down to the Wailua River that joined up with the kayaker’s trail to Secret Falls, I had to check it out.

Known as the Old Cart Trail, it is an old access trail on state land that was never developed or maintained as a trail, probably because it only goes down to the river, which can be dangerous to cross. It begins across the street from the Nounou-Kuamo’o trailhead on Kuamo’o about 2 miles inland from the circle road. There is a locked vehicle gate and an open pedestrian access, as shown in the following photo:

The right-of-way is very overgrown with weeds and the itchy buffalo grass, but there is a faint use trail that goes through. Then you need to find you way through some bamboo, still going straight with a fence on your left. Eventually, you can’t get through the bamboo so you need to walk right next to the fence on the left. At the end of the fence, you’re at the top of a small ravine going straight down to the river. On the left of the ravine is a trail, and after climbing over a few trunks and branches, it turns into a wide trail that curves left and descends into the river valley.

After a while, this nice trail disappears in the forest, near a place where this vine has created a perfect corkscrew and severly stunted it’s host tree. At this point, you want to turn right and head down towards the river through the tangled branches of the hau trees. Try to remember your path so you can retrace your steps on the way out.

Depending on what path you chose through the hau, you should reach the river within a few minutes. Then you follow it upstream until you see the gauging station on the other side:

The trail to Secret Falls goes upstream along the river, right next to the gauging station. You’ll probably need to take your shoes off and use a stick to cross the river, but do not cross if the river is above your knees. Once across, follow the trail to the right about a tenth of a mile until you cross two small streams. Then climb over an embankment and follow the trail up the side stream to Secret Falls. Retrace your steps to the trailhead.

In summary, I would say that kayaking is a much more enjoyable way to reach the waterfall, and this trail should only be attempted by the adventurous who don’t mind getting scratched by the overgrown brush and who know how to cross the river safely.

WARNING: crossing rivers and swimming in waterfalls are dangerous activities. Rivers may sweep you away easily and can flood quickly to trap you on the other side. Waterfalls sometimes carry rocks and branches with fatal consequences and the nearby cliffs are unstable. Exercise caution and proceed at your own risk.