State Park #3: Wailu River State Park - Kauai's Fern Grotto

My parents first took me to Hawaii and I fell for the tropical, natural beauty of the state...like every other tourist. I particularly fell for the island of Kauai.  Not many restaurants or stores, the waterfalls, parks, and beaches stood out as the main attraction.  The people didn't seem hurried.  They wanted to tell you their story.  On the Fern Grotto boat, a guide told us about the Wailua River, the only navigable river in Hawaii, and how we would pass the wettest place on earth.  Another guide told his personal story.  He explained with pride that he stared in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis.  We needed to watch the movie because he blows the conch shell near the hotel entrance.  Some stories draw you back to a place.  Someday I would return.

A little over a decade, we returned.  More people this time because we expanded our family.  We eagerly returned to the Wailua River State Park for another open-air boat ride by the Smith family.  This park has the only navigable river in Hawaii and contains two waterfalls (Opaeka'a Falls and Wailua Falls)  After the nature hike and songs played at the grotto, we boarded the boat back to the marina.  Dancers taught us the hula while moving on the river.  Then a guide took the microphone and explained that he stared in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis.  We needed to watch the movie because he blows the conch shell.  I watched the movie after returning home.

I'm not the only one impressed with the friendly local people.  Author Patricia Schultz lists "Kauai" in Hawaii as a must see site in her book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.  She notices the people, "Kauai's people are known as the friendliest in the fiftieth state, and tend to live a rural and unrushed old-time Hawaiian lifestyle, in which natural beauty and not overly plush Maui-style resort life is the focus."  

Dance can tell you stories too.  In ancient Hawaii, hula was used to keep history.  Watch the hand gestures.  The missionaries suppressed the hula, but King David Kalakaua restored hula.  The biggest hula festival and competition is the Merrie Monarch Festival held in Hilo, Hawaii.  If you want to get see hula and learn more about the Hawaiian culture without the long flight, consider taking the family to the following festivals:

1) Heritage of Aloha; Heritage Park in Santa Fe Springs, CA; May
Hawaiian and Polynesian music and dance with free admission

2) 3 Days of Aloha in the Pacific Northwest; Vancouver, WA; July
Hula competition and workshops on language, chant, and outrigger canoe paddling

3) Hawaiian Hula Days; Itasca, IL; Oct.
Held by the Hula Association of the Midwest; registration and workshop fees

Nature: Loving Strong Trees at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Preserve

Parson Jones Tree

Show your kids the strength of trees and nature by taking them to a redwood forest located in Northern California to Southern Oregon.  Redwoods extend their roots more than 50 feet from the trunk to create strength to withstand powerful winds and floods.  Redwood forests thrive in temperate rainforests, the dense dripping fog environment with moist, well drained soil.  So strong in nature, but weak to humans who logged approximately 95% of the California local redwood forests since the California Gold Rush.  Fortunately parks protect these majestic trees now.

Redwoods exist in other countries, but none like the coast redwood known as the tallest trees in the world.  The dawn redwood grows only in a remote area of central China, but it grows to only about one-third the height of Coast Redwood.  Coast Redwood typically grow 200-250 feet and live 500 to 1,000 years. 

If you visit the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve just north of Guerneville, CA, you will find examples of older and taller redwoods.  The Parson Jones tree measures as the tallest tree in the grove at 310 feet in height, longer than the length of a football field.  Colonel Armstrong stakes claim to the oldest tree in the grove, estimated to be over 1,400 years old.  Colonel Armstrong tree was named after a lumberman who chose to preserve this portion of the park.

According to WWF (World Wildlife Fund), the United Nations designated Redwood National and State Parks a World Heritage Site in 1980.  From postcards sent to me from around the world thanks to postcrossing.com, people are proud to send UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) site postcards.  Intrigued, I looked up the UNESCO sites.  You can find 1,092 results worldwide, but only 23 sites in the United States.  UNESCO doesn't list all national parks, just select parks like the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks and lesser known places like Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point in Louisiana.  You may note that Armstrong Redwoods classifies as a reserve.  It changed from a State Park to reserve to recognize it's ecological significance and gain increased protection.

Coast Redwoods are also known as Sequio Sempervirens; sempervirens means "always green".  A non-profit called Sempervirens Fund cares for redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains.  This organization created the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail, a 31 mile trail.  You can show your support by visiting their website and purchasing a trail patch.

 If you visit the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, bring your hiking shoes and water and no worries.  The Colonel Armstrong Loop covers 1.3 miles and as a flat trail, you'll find it easy to cover... even your little girl wearing a dress.  Besides the impressive trees, you'll find peace in the fern covered ground and look above at the beautiful sky.  Go early in the day to avoid the crowds.

TripSavvy recommends other forests in CA including 1) Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, 2) Redwood National Park, 3) Muir Woods National Park, 4) Yosemite National Park, 5) Big Basin Redwoods State Park, 6) Petrified Redwood Forests, and 7) Sequoia National Park.  I hiked Muir Woods with college friends and Yosemite National Park with cousins.  I'd recommend these parks too.