Puakō Petroglyph Park - Park in Waimea - 1 N Kaniku Dr, USA

This is a wonderful cultural gem. It is a great opportunity to learn a little about ancient Hawaiian activities and rituals. It is a really easy hike, but as some people have suggested, wear somewhat sturdy shoes. The trees drop thorns that went all the way through a pair of flip flops and there is loose and sometimes sharp lava rock. The ancient Hawaiians did it without shoes, so if your feet are conditioned like that, just watch the thorns.

This was a fun little walk to see some interesting petroglyphs. I highly recommend wearing athletic shoes, as the trail is not paved and uneven. Fun little outing and kid-friendly.

This park provides an excellent education about Hawaiian culture long ago. It is not a comfy cozy tour, as the self guided trail takes you over open lava beds under the scorching sun. Bring water and sturdy footwear. The petroglyphs are primate and fascinating, unique island art that has a message and meaning. The trail is 0.7 miles each way with carvings all along the way. Bring your camera, some water, and determination to help you perseveres.

We started the trail from the beach parking lot. It was about a mile and a half round trip through. There are plenty of large thorned plants throughout the walk, I wouldn't recommend slippers. It is somewhat shady but can get very hot, so plan ahead if you have kids. We had a great time, and the actual petroglyphs were very cool and interesting.

Great park to glimpse history of ancient markings over a lava flow. The individual petroglyphs at the trailhead are a nice reproduction of what they would have looked like originally. The trail is rugged & the thorns will pierce thin soles - wear study shoes or boots for the short Himes. Go early in the morning to beat the heat & for best viewing. The petroglyphs at the end are amazing & it was fun imagining what the glyphs meant and why they took the time to carve the images in the lava. Highly recommended!

There’s a short trail leading to the larger field full of petroglyphs. The trail is a little rocky and sandy - we should have brought better shoes, so do your research and don’t wear cheap flip flops like I did. There is also a beach nearby and several picnic tables. We shared our lunch with a group of mongooses.

A few petroglyphs are placed a couple minute walk from the parking lot. The natural petroglyph area is about 10-15 minutes from the parking lot. Mostly hiking through a sparse forest. It's hot and dry. The petroglyphs are amazing and tranquil.

Was in the area after snorkeling/kayaking and therefore was wearing flipflops. I was told the trail was paved so that I would be ok with my flipflops. However, it is not paved and therefore flipflops were NOT ok on this trail. There were tons of thorns on the trail and I ended up having a bloody foot at one point. The trail was also not clearly marked, which seemed to have been made even more confusing due to recent storms putting branches in the trail. The petroglyphs were kind of cool, but we were more concerned with finding a way back to the road without having to walk through the thorns again. We ended up finding our way back to a road by the golf course and therefore avoided the return trip on the trail. If I had better footwear and the trail was better marked, it would have been much more enjoyable. I'm still not sure if it was only intended to be an out-and-back trail, or if there was supposed to be another exit... The way we took out was definitely not a defined trail.