If driving from Lihu'e, take Maluhia Rd (Hwy 520) to navigate under the fairy-tale Tree Tunnel, a mile-long canopy of towering swamp mahogany trees (a type of eucalyptus). Pineapple baron Walter McBryde planted the trees as a community project in 1911, when he had leftover trees after landscaping his estate at Kukuiolono.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Koloa Jodo Mission

2.59 MILES

Serving the local Japanese community for more than a century, this sect of Buddhism practices a form of chanting meditation. The original temple, on the…

2. Sugar Monument (Old Mill)

2.62 MILES

Hawaii’s sugar industry, once the largest element in the islands’ economy, started with the construction of the first mill in Koloa in 1835. This memorial…

3. Koloa History Center

2.66 MILES

This small open-air museum traces local history through photos and historic artifacts such as old barber chairs, kerosene dispensers, plows, yolks, saws…

4. Lawaʻi International Center

2.97 MILES

Open for occasional tours, this sublimely peaceful site once held a Hawaiian heiau (temple). In 1904, however, Japanese immigrants placed 88 miniature…

5. St Raphael's Catholic Church

3.41 MILES

Kaua‘i’s first Catholic church was constructed in 1854 using lava rock and coral mortar to build walls 3ft thick. It was plastered over when enlarged in…

6. Allerton Garden

4.21 MILES

An extraordinary tour of this garden, part of the multisite National Tropical Botanical Garden, wanders deep into Lawaʻi Valley. Robert Allerton, a…

7. National Tropical Botanical Garden

4.22 MILES

Two superb gardens in lush Lawa‘i Valley, run by the National Tropical Botanical Garden, are open to visitors. Allerton Garden, spreading back from a…

8. Prince Kuhio Park

4.22 MILES

Dedicated to the memory of Prince Jonah Kuhio (1871-1922), the Territory of Hawaii’s first delegate to the US Congress, this landscaped park holds little…