The lookouts
On the rim.
dronepicr — CC BY 2.0 · Sunira Moses — CC BY-SA 4.0 · dronepicr — CC BY 2.0 · Famartin — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Famartin — CC BY-SA 4.0
Waimea Canyon, nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, is a deep canyon on the western side of Kauaʻi in Hawaii, about 16 km long and up to about 900 metres deep, about 13 km north of the town of Waimea in a straight line. Its Hawaiian name means «reddish water», after the erosion of its red soil. It was carved by the Waimea River, fed by the extreme rainfall on Mount Waiʻaleʻale, one of the wettest places on Earth, and also shaped by a huge collapse of the volcano that built the island. The canyon walls are banded in red, brown and green, exposing layers of lava, and waterfalls such as Waipoʻo Falls drop from them, with the colours shifting as clouds and light move. A road along the rim climbs to several lookouts and continues to Kōkeʻe State Park and the Kalalau Valley views over the Nā Pali Coast, so the two fit into one day. Mornings are usually clearer, before the clouds build.
On the rim.
In the canyon wall.
Red and green.
West Kauaʻi, Hawaii, United States
In the morning, before the clouds.
Kōkeʻe State Park.