Kauai Fire Department rescues overdue hiker on Kōkee trail

Kauai Fire Department crews pulled a lost male resident from Mohihi-Waialae Trail in Kōkee State Park after an overdue-hiker report came in shortly after 11:25 a.m. on Thursday, June 4. The rescue, which involved Waimea Fire Station personnel, Rescue 3 aboard Air 1, the on-duty battalion chief and Hawaii Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement officers, was cleared shortly after 2:10 p.m.

Air 1 began searching in the Camp 10 area and along the Mohihi-Waialae Trail, a remote route that reaches into the Alakai Wilderness and is accessed via Camp 10 Road. Crews eventually found the hiker lying on the trail. After contact was made, rescuers used a short-haul extraction to lift him to Alakai Vista Lookout, where he was transferred to DOCARE personnel and then taken to Kōkee Lodge, with emergency medical personnel standing by.

The response highlighted how quickly an overdue-hiker call in Kōkee can move from uncertainty to controlled recovery when distance, terrain and weather limit ground access. Kōkee State Park sits at about 4,000 feet elevation and looks out over Kalalau Valley and native rainforest, but the same steep, wet upland environment that draws hikers also increases the odds of trouble on remote trails. County officials and state park materials routinely warn visitors to check weather reports before heading into the park, especially on backcountry routes where conditions can change fast.

Mohihi-Waialae is one of those routes. Trail resources describe it as a remote, weather-sensitive hike that can become difficult quickly, a reality reflected in the need for helicopter support on this case. For hikers, the operational lesson is direct: travel with a communication device, tell someone the route and expected return time, and be prepared to turn around before conditions worsen.

The June 4 rescue also fits a broader pattern in Kōkee. Kauai County records show KFD used Air 1 and short-haul extraction in a March 5 rescue on Kuilau Trail, when crews airlifted a 76-year-old California visitor, and again on June 9, 2025, when firefighters rescued an injured 50-year-old California visitor from Waipoo Falls Trail in Kōkee. Together, the calls show that the park’s steep, wet and isolated terrain continues to generate helicopter-based responses, not as isolated exceptions but as a recurring public-safety demand in the island’s backcountry.