Limahuli Garden has reopened! Please read this important information about tour reservations and the North Shore Shuttle before booking.
Built on the footprint of our Hawaiian ancestors, Limahuli Garden and Preserve is located on the north shore of the island of Kaua'i in one of the most biodiverse valleys in the Hawaiian Islands. Home to dozens of endangered plants and birds found nowhere else on earth, Limahuli Garden and Preserve highlights native and culturally-significant species in an authentic Hawaiian landscape.
Limahuli Garden is a pu'uhonua (place of refuge) for an ecological system that honors the connection between nature and humanity, where indigenous traditions live in the 21st Century. At Limahuli NTBG adapts ancestral resource management practices to address contemporary conservation challenges and restore health, function, and resilience to the valley. This approach is known as biocultural conservation. By visiting or volunteering in the garden you become part of our team and part of the solution.
Limahuli Garden History
For at least 1,500 years the Limahuli Valley has been a Hawaiian place. Today, Limahuli is one of of the last easily-accessible valleys with intact archaeological complexes, native forest, pristine stream, and the presence of the descendants of the valley’s original inhabitants caring for it.
Learn more about Limahuli Garden and the early history of this biodiverse valley.
Limahuli Garden Self-Guided Tour, North Shore, Kaua`i
Important Information: Reservations are required for self-guided tours. Hawaii residents and North Shore Shuttle riders exempt. Valid Hawaii State ID or North Shore Shuttle ticket must be provided at check-in for visitors without advanced reservations.
About the Tour
Ancient terraces, ancient wisdom, life and relationships with the land, the forest, and the water… the stories unfold as you open your guidebook and make your way through this special place. Envision what the valley might have looked like when the first Hawaiians arrived as you follow the path through the native forest walk. Discover the plants that traveled with them in their canoes and how their culture was inseparable from the plants that sustained them. Contemplate the impact of plant invaders and learn what is being done today to protect fragile ecosystems. Ascend to the Whale Trail and take in the dramatic panorama of the ocean. Feel the spirit of Limahuli.
Limahuli Garden Guided Tour, North Shore, Kaua`i
Explore this timeless place with a small group as the inextricably interwoven stories of Hawaiian history, culture, natural history, and plants unfold during your visit. As you enjoy legends that abound about this ancient valley, you’ll see the features that inspired them. A guided tour offers you a deeper understanding of the delicate balance of the ecosystem in both ancient and modern times, and how today’s stewardship of the land is modeled after the traditional practices of its earliest inhabitants. Our docents are knowledgeable, enjoy ‘talking story’, and are passionate about sharing this living Hawaiian landscape.
Phone or email reservations required; (808) 826-1053, limahuli@ntbg.org
Tour Type:
- Guided Tour
Limahuli Garden Family Tour, North Shore, Kaua`i
Explore Limahuli Valley as an outdoor classroom. Listen to the singing birds of the forest, the splashing waters of the stream, and hear stories of the valley that teach lessons about relationships and behaviors. This is recommended for families interested in guided tours.
Reservations required. Your family group must include at least one child 12 years of age or younger.
Tour Type:
- Guided Tour
Limahuli Garden Specialty Tour, North Shore, Kaua`i
Are you looking for a group experience built around a particular theme or topic of interest, perhaps one that could be a mix between a guided tour and a hands-on component designed to reinforce the lessons of the day? We offer an opportunity to build a custom experience that includes elements of Hawaiian history, culture, natural history, sustainability, plants, and more in such a way that is tailored to your group’s interests.
Phone or email reservations required; (808) 826-1053, limahuli@ntbg.org
Tour Type:
- Guided Tour
Limahuli Garden Private Tour, North Shore, Kaua`i
An exclusive VIP experience that is tailored to your schedule and interests by a senior docent or Limahuli staff
Phone or email reservations required; (808) 826-1053, limahuli@ntbg.org
Tour Type:
- Guided Tour
Limahuli Garden has reopened following more than a year of flood recovery efforts and is accepting reservations for self-guided and guided tours. The garden closed in April 2018 after historic flooding closed access to the garden and damaged infrastructure, trails, and plant collections. The garden's hours of operation remain Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 to 4:00.
An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa (UHM) and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) demonstrated how collaboratively-developed forest restoration in Limahuli Garden & Preserve (Limahuli) can increase community benefits and improve resilience at lower cost than standard forest restoration programs.
The NTBG has issued a Request For Proposal for debris removal at the Lower Limahuli Preserve.
NTBG's Limahuli Garden & Preserve suffered significant damage during the historic April flooding on Kauai. In our moment of need, NTBG supporters have moved mountains and funds raised have been instrumental in serving humanitarian needs and relief efforts in the Garden and north shore communities.
In response to inquiries about Limahuli Garden’s condition following the extremely heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding that has severely impacted a number of Kaua‘i communities, we’d like to share the following:
Limahuli Garden was recently featured on CNN's Great Big Story documentary series. Read the full article here:
•https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/hawaii-limahuli-valley-meets-poison-garden
On Wednesday, July 19, 2017 Ryan Ozawa and Burt Lum of Hawaii Public Radio's Bytemarks Café interviewed Kawika Winter, Ph.D NTBG Director of the Limahuli Garden & Preserve about the use of drone technology in rare plant conservation efforts in the Limahuli Preserve.
Click here to listen to the program online. NTBG interview starts at 9:55 minutes.
Conservationists at National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) have discovered new populations of a number of species listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List including Laukahi (Plantago princeps var. anomola).
