State lawmakers in Hawaii are considering legislation that would make some hikers pay for their own rescue when they get lost or endangered because of their own recklessness.

Senate Bill 700 would allow local governments to recoup the cost of search and rescue operations, which can run upward of $10,000. A second bill, SB 363, also working its way through the state Senate, would go further and impose fines for illegally hiking on closed trails and private property.

The legislation, which mimics similar rules in multiple other states including California, would penalize hikers who disregard warning signs, trespass or take other risks in their quest for off-the-beaten-path adventure.

Hawaii, which greets more than 10 million tourists yearly and where tourism makes up nearly one quarter of the economy, would be sending a strong message to visitors. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has caused a significant drop in tourism-related revenue, the cash-strapped Hawaiian government hopes the bills will reimburse taxpayers for costly rescues and discourage irresponsible behavior that puts both tourists, and their would-be rescuers, at risk.

If either bill passes, hikers who ignore “no trespassing” signs at the head of famous, but off-limits, trails like Red Sand Beach, which sits on private land along Maui’s breathtaking Hana Highway, may soon be risking more than their lives.

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U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Tulsi Gabbard jointly introduced in the U.S. House H.R. 7045, a measure to pursue creation of Hawaii’s first-ever National Forest.

The National Forest System comprises 154 national forests, 20 national grasslands and several other federal land designations containing 193 million acres. Its mission is to conserve land for a variety of uses to include watershed management, research, cultural site preservation, wildlife habitat management and research and outdoor recreation.

Case and Gabbard said “Our Hawaii National Forest Study Act would identify parcels of land that could later be incorporated into a National Forest that would fulfill the National Forest System’s mission. It would also help inventory how best to conserve and expand Hawaii‘s native koa, ohia and sandalwood forests. They can be conserved and expanded to lay the groundwork for establishment of a National Forest. This designation would also assist with federal resources for management and protection.“

Both members say Kaena Point, largely state-owned, is the perfect candidate for Hawaii’s first National Heritage Area given its truly unique cultural, historic and environmental heritage and qualities.

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If you want to take a hike on the famous and gorgeous Kalalau Trail, be prepared to make an advance reservation.

Since severe thunderstorms and floods in 2018 ravaged the coastline on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, major recovery efforts have been underway to return Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park and Hā’ena State Park, and the Kalalau Trail to their original beauty.

The two parks and hiking trail actually reopened back in 2019, but officials are still concerned with potential damage to the environment, especially since Kauai has grown exponentially in popularity.

As of 2019, Hā’ena State Park has implemented a 900-visitors-per-day cap as well as restricting the number of parking stalls and adding fines for people who attempt to park on the roadside. If hikers want to get to the beginning of the Kalalau Trail, they would have to reserve space on a shuttle in order to get there.

But now there’s an extra hoop you’ll have to jump through before you get to the trailhead. If you plan on hiking the first two miles of the Kalalau Trail, located in Hā’ena State Park, you will need an advanced reservation and permit, due to the daily cap.

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Like the biggest mountain on earth, if you measure Mauna Kea from its base under the ocean to its summit at 13,803 feet above sea level. Like Hi’ilawe Falls, a waterfall with a main drop some 1,200 feet in height. Like miles of perfectly pristine beaches completely devoid of human development.

You can get to the summit of Mauna Kea by car, you can see Hi’ilawe falls by helicopter, and you can reach spots like Kauai’s Kauapea Beach, AKA Secret Beach, by boat, but what ties these and dozens of other spots together? They are best reached by hiking. Sure, surfing is great and all, but Hawaii is just as much of a paradise for the hiker who loves logging miles afoot.

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The popular Kilauea Iki Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park recently fully reopened, a year and a half after Kilauea erupted and more than 60,000 quakes rattled the volcano’s summit. The shaking last year damaged much of the park, including the popular four-mile loop from the rim of a crater to its floor. Now visitors will see something new along the way: large boulders that tumbled down during the seismic shaking.

The trail starts out in lush forest and gives way to the sparse floor of the crater, which in 1959 was a “seething lava lake, with lava fountains up to 1,900 feet high.” Hikers now walk on hardened lava where decades later there’s still a hot rock that steams on the surface.

Work crews from the nonprofit Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and other national park workers helped make repairs. It’s all part of the park’s slow recovery from the eruption that forced the park to close for an unprecedented 134 days in 2018.

Some of the park’s features were forever changed. The bubbling lava lake within Halemaumau Crater near the summit disappeared after lava was sucked underground, and the crater doubled in size. The park’s Jaggar Museum, which contained geologic and cultural artifacts, sits precariously close to the newly formed rim.

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When it comes to outdoor adventure, Oahu packs a punch. Within its 597 square miles, visitors to the island can find stunning beaches to unwind on, delicious local foods to enjoy, and miles upon miles of hiking trails to explore.

According to Best of Oahu, there are close to 50 different hiking trails to choose from around the island. From beginning to expert, the island’s hiking trails have it all. The one thing they all have in common is the fact that they each end with a spectacular view of Oahu and the Pacific Ocean below.

Located on the eastern side of Waikiki’s coastline sits the Diamond Head State Monument, one of the island’s most recognizable landmarks. The monument, which takes up a whopping 475 acres of land, has plenty for visitors to see and do, including hike to the summit. The summit trail, first built in 1908, is just .8 miles long. Though short, it’s still difficult — on that quick walk you’ll gain 560 feet of elevation — but the view is well worth the huffing and puffing.

The hike to Waimea Falls is more of a leisurely stroll than a workout, but it’s stunning just the same. Upon entering the park guests can take a paved road on a quick one-mile walk through a gorgeous botanical garden. At the end, visitors are rewarded with a glimmering lake and waterfall. Those adventurous enough can even hop in for a quick swim before hiking back out again.

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With Tūtū Pele seemingly having come to the end of her latest eruptive run, staff at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park are working to get back to the business of running a national park, not responding to an erupting volcano. But it won’t be business as usual at the park now, or for the foreseeable future, as repairing the damage carries a bill of an estimated $100 million, at least, and some areas might not reopen for a long, long time.

For nearly four months the park’s Kīlauea volcano has been spewing lava and fracturing the surrounding landscape with earthquakes. Since May 11, the bulk of the park has been closed for public safety. Though the eruptions have ended, the damage to the park and the limited reopening scheduled for September 22, National Public Lands Day, has park staff rethinking how visitors should experience Hawai’i Volcanoes.

“Our resource is so dynamic that we’ve always been about change. It is an active volcano, and so we’ve always had to adapt and be flexible in terms of how we manage that resource in terms of vistiation,” Superintendent Cindy Orlando said during a phone call earlier this week. “Before the event in early May (when this year’s eruptions started), we had the highest visitation in the state. We were the most-visited attraction in 2017. We had 2 million visitors.

“So, for me, I guess I see this as an opportunity,” she went on. “The landscape is changed, but our footprint has always been limited. And now it’s even more so. In that regard, it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, maybe we don’t want to see 2 million visitors a year at this park. Or do we?'”

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The nearly 5-mile round-trip trail is known for its unimpeded views of East Oahu. From the top of the ridge, at an elevation just shy of 1,600 feet, you’re treated to a panorama of Waikiki, Honolulu, Waimanalo and Konahuanui, the highest peak in the Koolau Mountain range.

Wiliwilinui Ridge sits to the left of the popular Koko Crater, and is part of three mountain ridges: Kuliouou, Hawaii Loa and Wiliwilinui. All three share similar terrain, with introduced and indigenous flora and those stunning vistas. Wiliwilinui isn’t the shortest hike of the trio, but it’s the easiest and a great intro to Hawaii ridge hikes.

The trailhead is in a gated community. The friendly guard takes down your car’s license plate number and hands you a red laminated parking pass. There are a limited number of passes each day. While this restricts trail access, it also means that it won’t be too crowded, a luxury on bustling Oahu.

The Wiliwilinui Ridge Trail starts off nice and easy. In fact, the beginning is a paved road. It soon gives way to a wide dirt road, which continues for just over a mile. The well-maintained trail was built by the U.S. Army in 1941 and was originally used as a service road.

The trail’s climbs sets of stairs—there are more than 10 sets in all—up to a nearly 1,600-foot elevation. The steps not only help prevent erosion along the ridge, they also help make it significantly easier to navigate the trail.

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  If you’re from Hawaii, you’ve probably heard the saying, “Don’t take lava rocks, you’ll get bad luck.”

Even most visitors know not to take lava rocks as souvenirs thanks to a popular episode of “The Brady Bunch” back in the 1980s.

But many people still take lava rocks home, and some are paying the price.

Ross Birch, executive director of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau, said they still get rocks in the mail.

“We still get some,” said IHVB executive director Ross Birch. “It’s pretty infrequent any more as I think the folklore has trickled into our visitors, and they have an education a little deeper than they did five to 10 years ago.”

A recent social media post by Haleakala National Park on Maui urges people to not take lava rocks. It says the park received 1,275 rocks this year in the mail.

Some rocks return in an empty box, but “other ones for the most part come with very detailed specifics of what happened in their lives,” Birch said. “Illnesses coming into the family, or death in the family, or different things that have happened over a period of time, and the catalyst has always kind of been having that rock.”

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The decision to remain overnight was reinforced after one couple tried to cross the turbulent, flood-swollen stream, using a makeshift rope line, and nearly drowned. By the next day, the Hanakapiai flood conditions had subsided, and the stranded hikers were able to make it back to their cars, according to the Hawaii DLNR.

the executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau, said it’s crucial that people planning to hike along the Kalalau Trail, which is renowned for its stunning access to the Garden Isle’s jaw-dropping Napali Coast, check weather conditions and forecasts.

“Interior rain is a big deal,” she explained. “It can be sunny on the south shore and storming on the interior of the island, and that fills everything up that flows to ocean. Before you know it, what started out seeming like a good day for hiking turns into flash flooding.”

Hanakapiai, and other streams across the Aloha State, are incredibly dangerous during periods of heavy rain, in part, because flooding can occur so suddenly, but also because visitors don’t realize just how deadly crossing these waterways can be. Keep this in mind whenever hiking near streams no matter where you are.

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