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Short answer: Visitors need a reservation from gohaena.com, released 30 days ahead: either $20 parking per car per time slot plus $5 per person entry, or the North Shore Shuttle.
Status, October 15, 2026: Hawaii State Parks says Ha‘ena State Park reopens October 15, 2026, and gohaena.com says the shuttle resumes the same day. Overnight camping and hiking past the two-mile point of the Kalalau Trail stay closed. The other Kauai state parks, apart from part of Wailua River, remain closed after Hurricane Lowell, including Polihale and Waimea Canyon, and Kōke‘e Road is closed until further notice. HDOT’s road page, last updated October 9, still lists local access only on Kuhio Highway from Hanalei to Ke‘e Beach. Check the Hawaii State Parks notices and HDOT road updates before you plan the day.
Haena State Park sits at the literal end of the road on Kauai’s North Shore, and getting there involves a real decision renters need to make before they leave: drive in, or park and shuttle.
Two ways in, both need a reservation booked 30 days out
Everything runs through gohaena.com, and both options release 30 days in advance and sell out quickly:
- Drive and park yourself: a parking reservation runs $20 per vehicle per time slot, plus the $5-per-person entry fee on top. The lot is small and tied to specific arrival windows. You can’t just show up whenever.
- Take the shuttle instead: Kauai’s North Shore Shuttle picks up from the Waipā Park and Ride in Hanalei (free parking there) or from Princeville, and runs about $45 per adult and $25 per child (ages 4-15), with park entry already included in that price. From Waipā, shuttles leave every 20 minutes from 6:20 AM to 12:40 PM; the Princeville stop has 7:00 and 9:00 AM departures.
Why the shuttle is worth considering even in a rental
For a party of two or more, the driving option is usually cheaper on paper ($20 parking + $10 entry for two people is $30, vs. $90 for two adult shuttle tickets), but the parking reservation is the harder one to actually get, since there are far fewer vehicle slots than shuttle seats. If your dates are inflexible, checking shuttle availability alongside parking availability at the 30-day mark gives you two chances instead of one.
Hawaii residents get a break
Valid Hawaii state ID exempts you from the entry fee entirely, though the logistics of booking a slot still apply the same way.
- Reservations open exactly 30 days ahead: mark your calendar rather than checking randomly, since both parking and shuttle slots go fast.
- This is separate from Kalalau Trail permits: if you’re hiking past Hanakapiai, that’s an additional, different permit on top of simply entering the park.
- The road ends here: there’s no through-drive to anywhere else, so this is a there-and-back trip to plan as its own outing, not a stop along a longer drive.
Flying into Lihue first? See the Lihue Airport rental car guide for pickup logistics, and whether you need a rental car on Kauai at all for the rest of your trip.
Book directly on gohaena.com: it’s the official reservation system for both the parking permit and the North Shore Shuttle.
Wondering how this fits into a full Kauai trip? See how long it actually takes to drive around Kauai: the island isn’t a loop.
Stopping in Hanalei on the way? See Black Pot Beach parking for where the free lots are and when they fill.
Looking at Tunnels Beach nearby? Its parking works differently from the state park, see Tunnels Beach parking.
Planning more than one booking? The Hawaii reservations calendar lists every window and release time in one table.
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Researched and written by Neo Pecorro. Facts on this page were checked against the official Ha’ena reservation site, plus the other sources linked above. Hawaii rules change often, so confirm on the official page before you go.
Last updated: October 15, 2026.