# 2 great things on Kauai not in the book



## tombo (Mar 7, 2008)

I been informed repeatedly that these are in the book and I missed them. They are 2 things that I missed seeing in the book that I would still recommend doing.


I was talking to a local and he told me about a waterfall that lots of locals go to. I looked in Kauai revealed and couldn't find it. You drive highway 50 from Lihue towards Poipu and take a left at mile marker 3. I think the road forks, and if it does stay to the right. It is only a mile or two off of the main road  (hwy 50) to a bridge. Stop before the bridge and park. There will be other cars there on weekends or evidence on the edge of the road where people park often. There is a well worn trail heading off to the left. It is a short walk to a waterfall which I think is called Kipu falls. Locals dive and flip off of the falls into the pool below. There is a ladder in the water to climb back up to the top of the falls, and a nice rope swing off to the side which was in constant use the Saturday I was there. You sit on the rocks on top of the falls and watch the kids do things I wish I was still young enough to do. I was so tempted to jump off of the falls but I resisted this time as we were on our way to Polihale beach and wanted to get there with plenty of daylight left. It is a beautifull tree lined river with a great falls that is easy to get to and so worth it . A picnic lunch there would be great and I would do so if I go back to Kauai.

The other thing I found was courtesy of a timeshare presentation. While my salesman for HGVC was waiting for the manager to come try to sell me some points, he told me about the road to the location of the Jurassic Park gates (which I couldn't find listed in Kauai revealed). Other than the free massage my wife received at the Hilton Spa, I think his advice was one of the best things we have ever received from a timeshare presentation. The posts that the gates to the entrance to Jurrassic Park were attached to are still there and the view is spectacular. From Lihue head north, cross the wauilua river, and turn left on 580 to Opaeka's Falls.Pass the falls and go to the end of the road at the Keahua Arborarium. Stop there and see the most unusual trees I have ever seen. Their bark on their trunks are multi-colored like a rainbow with yellows, oranges, greens, and blues. After looking at the trees continue driving across the flowing river and drive on the main dirt (rock) road for about 7 miles. This is beautiful woods that most never see and on weekends you will see pig hunters with their dogs every now and then. Keep on the road that looks most traveled and you will come to 2 tall concrete posts. Take picture and go home and rent the movie. The view through the gates is the same view that you see in the movie when the gates open up. I read a movies made on Kauai book in the airport on the way back and they had a picture of the posts verifying this was the posts the gates were attached to. Keep going through the gates to the end of the road and there is a river with views of the mountain and a waterfall in the distance. This trip needs a 4 wheel drive and is reason enough to rent one. It is a must do!

I know a lot of people here have done these things and everyone might know about them. I only found out about them through locals and wanted to share with those who didn't know about them (like me).

Aloha, Tom


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 8, 2008)

tombo said:


> I was talking to a local and he told me about a waterfall that lots of locals go to. I looked in Kauai revealed and couldn't find it. You drive highway 50 from Lihue towards Poipu and take a left at mile marker 3. I think the road forks, and if it does stay to the right. It is only a mile or two off of the main road  (hwy 50) to a bridge. Stop before the bridge and park. There will be other cars there on weekends or evidence on the edge of the road where people park often. There is a well worn trail heading off to the left. It is a short walk to a waterfall which I think is called Kipu falls. Locals dive and flip off of the falls into the pool below. There is a ladder in the water to climb back up to the top of the falls, and a nice rope swing off to the side which was in constant use the Saturday I was there. You sit on the rocks on top of the falls and watch the kids do things I wish I was still young enough to do. I was so tempted to jump off of the falls but I resisted this time as we were on our way to Polihale beach and wanted to get there with plenty of daylight left. It is a beautifull tree lined river with a great falls that is easy to get to and so worth it . A picnic lunch there would be great and I would do so if I go back to Kauai.
> 
> The other thing I found was courtesy of a timeshare presentation. While my salesman for HGVC was waiting for the manager to come try to sell me some points, he told me about the road to the location of the Jurassic Park gates (which I couldn't find listed in Kauai revealed). Other than the free massage my wife received at the Hilton Spa, I think his advice was one of the best things we have ever received from a timeshare presentation. The posts that the gates to the entrance to Jurrassic Park were attached to are still there and the view is spectacular. From Lihue head north, cross the wauilua river, and turn left on 580 to Opaeka's Falls.Pass the falls and go to the end of the road at the Keahua Arborarium. Stop there and see the most unusual trees I have ever seen. Their bark on their trunks are multi-colored like a rainbow with yellows, oranges, greens, and blues. After looking at the trees continue driving across the flowing river and drive on the main dirt (rock) road for about 7 miles. This is beautiful woods that most never see and on weekends you will see pig hunters with their dogs every now and then. Keep on the road that looks most traveled and you will come to 2 tall concrete posts. Take picture and go home and rent the movie. The view through the gates is the same view that you see in the movie when the gates open up. I read a movies made on Kauai book in the airport on the way back and they had a picture of the posts verifying this was the posts the gates were attached to. Keep going through the gates to the end of the road and there is a river with views of the mountain and a waterfall in the distance. This trip needs a 4 wheel drive and is reason enough to rent one. It is a must do!
> 
> ...



Both of those are in Kaua'i Revealed.  I've been to both of them and I've used Kaua'i Revealed to find them.

In the Fifth Edition, Kipu Falls is pages 70-71 - about one-thrid of page 71 is a picture of Kipu Falls, with the rope swing. Andrew and Harritt give it "A Real Gem" rating and almost one page of text.  Jurassic Park gate is on pages 153-154, mentioned as part of the directions to the Jungle Hike.


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## LisaH (Mar 8, 2008)

Ditto. We followed the direction from The Ultimate Kauai GuideBook and visited Kipu falls two years ago. It was really fun! My kids enjoyed jumping into it but I was too chicken to try it.


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## Mimi (Mar 8, 2008)

Our kids and grandkids had a ball at Kipu Falls last summer. I was happy to stay up on the rocks to take pictures! Some local boys were actually climbing trees above me and jumping in from the highest branches. It's unbelievable!


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## Wishiwasatthebeach (Mar 8, 2008)

*jungle hike*

We hiked to Jurassic Park gate about 6 years ago using KR book, listed as Jungle Hike. I don't even remember which edition of Kauai Revealed I had. It was sort of scary driving on that dirt road. We had a full size car and the dirt road had lots of pot holes and filled with rain water. Each time we got to a large hole, I had to exit the car and poked the hole to test how deep it is. We made it through. We ran into a local guy. He saw my KR book and remarked that it was well used. Yes, I had tiny colored flag-it notes for all the places we would do, sort of like tabs in the book. They were all curled up.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 8, 2008)

Wishiwasatthebeach said:


> I don't even remember which edition of Kauai Revealed I had.



I cited above to the Fifth Edition.  I believe we had the Third Edition on our original visits to both Kipu Falls and the Jurassic Park gates area.  My point being that they aren't recent additions to the book.


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