State closes entire section of popular Kalalau Trail in Nāpali Coast wilderness park due to norovirus outbreak

The Hawaiʻi Division of State Parks, in consultation with the Hawai‘i Department of Health, has closed the entire Kalalau Trail section, from Kē‘ē to Honopu in the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park, due to a breakout of the highly contagious norovirus.

This viral illness has been identified as the cause of sickness for at least 37 backpackers who hiked the trail or were camping at a state campsite at Kalalau beach.

Norovirus typically causes copious vomiting, often accompanied by fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.

The state agencies are closely coordinating the situation in Kalalau and taking appropriate action to ensure public health and safety, said a news release from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources that oversees the state parks.

The closure is effective immediately, with the health department recommended it stay closed until at least Sept. 19. All comfort stations along the trail are being cleaned and disinfected. Ha‘ena State Park and Kē‘ē Beach will remain open with enhanced cleaning and disinfection of that comfort station.

Officers from the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement will travel to Kalalau, Hanakoa and Hanakāpīʻai this weekend to direct any remaining permitted and unpermitted hikers and campers to leave the area. The Kalalau Trailhead at Kē‘ē will be manned by law enforcement 24/7 to prevent entrance onto the trail.

While the number of reports of illness is at 37 people, the actual number of affected people is estimated to be higher, the news release said.

On Friday, a health department team collected water, soil, and environmental swabs at Kalalau to assess ongoing risk of transmission from contaminated surfaces or water.

Norovirus was detected in multiple samples from people who didn’t directly interact with each other.

Beginning with the initial closure Wednesday morning and again Thursday, state officers flew into Kalalau to tell campers they needed to leave. Officer Christian “Kana‘i” Gayagas said he and a fellow officer approached about 40 campers at Kalalau. They cited two, who did not have the required permit to hike beyond Hanakāpīʻai.

Forrest Liss of Kaua‘i backpacked  to Kalalau on Tuesday, prior to the park closure. He said he’d heard about some sort of illness on social media and spoke while cleaning camp, preparing to hike out.

He said by the time he and his party reached camp most everyone who was sick had already left.

“We figure camping, people get sick,” he said. “Maybe they drank the water. People get sick, but when they start going through the protocols of shutting down the park, actually this is something a little more serious.”

Norovirus has impacted at least three other popular trails in the United States in recent years, the news release said.

The National Park Service Office of Public Health has received increasing reports of gastrointestinal illnesses among hikers and other individuals along the Appalachian Trail in areas of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Norovirus is suspected as the cause of illness there and has been confirmed diagnostically in at least some of the cases. The impact of norovirus in other areas and states along the Appalachian Trail is possible due to virus transmissibility and challenges to hand hygiene and sanitation along the trail.

According to media reports, dozens of people visiting Havasu Falls in Arizona got ill and were flown out for medical treatment in June. Norovirus was confirmed as the cause of sickness in some cases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2022, the largest outbreak of acute gastroenteritis documented in the Grand Canyon National Park backcountry occurred. At least 222 rafters and backpackers became infected, probably with norovirus. Also, in 2022 and again this past April, hikers on the Pacific Coast Trail also reported getting sick.

At the Kauaʻi park on Thrusday, three state parks workers collected and bagged rubbish to be helicoptered out of the valley. They did two “sling loads,” which is dramatically different from a decade ago when it was common for helicopters to lift dozens of 600-pound sling loads of trash out of Kalalau.

In addition to that work and replacing missing signs, they employed health department recommendations when cleaning the camp’s comfort station, which included bleaching the whole bathroom, floors, railings and toilets. After waiting up to 10 minutes, it all was cleaned again and then wiped with a disinfectant.

Commercial and recreational boaters should not drop people off to swim, paddle or kayak to Kalalau beach. People can be cited or arrested during the closure.