Kalaupapa National Historical Park

National Historical Park · Hawaii

Closure Information See 4 current alerts

View of Kalaupapa Peninsula from Overlook
Photo: Tylor Tanaka, via the National Park Service

Current alerts (4)

  • Closure

    Kalawao County Restrictions

    Access to the park, including Kalawao County, the Kalaupapa Trail, the settlement, and Waikolu Valley, is restricted to residents and visitors with approved permits issued by Hawaii State Department of Health. Violations will result in arrest/fine.

    More from the park: Kalawao County Restrictions

  • Information

    Phones Are Not Operational

    We continue to experience intermittent outages with our phone lines. If your call does not go through, please try again later, or try to leave us a message and we will get back to you. Thank you for your understanding.

  • Information

    Arrival by Boat

    It is prohibited to come within 1/4 mile of the Kalaupapa shoreline. Access by boat within the quarter mile offshore park boundary requires a special use permit.

  • Information

    Unmanned Aircraft

    Launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of Kalaupapa National Historical Park is prohibited. This includes model airplanes, quadcopters, and drones.

Hours

Park Hours

Usual hours: Park Hours
Every dayAll Day

Kalaupapa National Historical Park is home to an active community of people, including patient-residents and State and Federal employees. Because of this, there are no park opening or closing hours, though tours are only given during daylight hours. Visitation is restricted in accordance with Hawai'i State Law. All visitors must have a permit.

About this park

When Hansen's disease (leprosy) was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, King Kamehameha V banished all afflicted to the isolated Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north shore of Molokai. Since 1866, more than 8,000 people, mostly Hawaiians, have died at Kalaupapa. Once a prison, Kalaupapa is now a refuge for the few remaining residents who are cured but were forced to live their lives in isolation.