Wailua River State Park and the Wailua Complex of Heiaus, which it includes, are located on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 of Kauai

Kauai

Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...

. The park consists primarily of the Wailua River

Wailua River

The Wailuā River is a river on the island of Kauai in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is formed by the confluence of its North and South forks just west of Wailua and enters the Pacific Ocean at . It is the only navigable river in the Hawaiian Islands...

 valley, which is the only navigable river in Hawaii. Visitors to this park can kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

, take riverboat cruises and explore the rainforest. Even motorboats and water skiing

Water skiing

thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...

 are permissible on the river.

Wailua Complex of Heiaus

The Wailua Complex, a National Historic Landmark, was once the center of chiefly power on the island. It contains the remains of several important structures: places of worship (heiau), places of refuge (puuhonua), and sites related to royal births. The most important sites are:

• Hikinaakalā (Rising of the Sun) Heiau, which includes the Hauola place of refuge (puuhonua) and the Kii Pōhaku ancient petroglyph
  Petroglyph
  Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
  
  s, at the mouth of the river adjacent to Lydgate State Park
• Malae, also known as Malaea or Makaukiu or Mana Heiau, a huge, rectangular luakini
  Luakini
  In ancient Hawai'i, a luakini temple, or luakini heiau, was a Native Hawaiian sacred place where human and animal blood sacrifices were offered....
  
   heiau almost 400 feet long on the south side of the river just above Highway 56
  Hawaii Route 56
  Route 56, also known as Kuhio Highway, is the main highway on the north and east shore of Kauaii island.-Route description :Route 56 runs , stretching from Hawaii Route 50 at the junction of Rice Street in Lihue, Hawaii to the junction of Hawaii Route 560 in Princeville on the island of Kauaii...
  
  
• Holoholokū Heiau, also known as Kalaeokamanu, adjacent to the pōhaku hoohānau (birthing stone) and pōhaku piko (navel/umbilical stone), where women of high rank would give birth and bury their afterbirth and umbilical cord
  Umbilical cord
  In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
  
  s
• Poliahu (also spelled Poliahu) Heiau, a large luakini
  Luakini
  In ancient Hawai'i, a luakini temple, or luakini heiau, was a Native Hawaiian sacred place where human and animal blood sacrifices were offered....
  
   heiau high on the narrow ridge between Ōpaekaa Stream
  'Opaeka'a Falls
  Opaeka'a Falls is a waterfall located on the Wailua River in Wailua River State Park on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is a 151–foot waterfall that flows over basalt from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago...
  
   and Wailua River
  Wailua River
  The Wailuā River is a river on the island of Kauai in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is formed by the confluence of its North and South forks just west of Wailua and enters the Pacific Ocean at . It is the only navigable river in the Hawaiian Islands...
  
  
• Bellstone (on the same ridge), used to announce important events, such as royal births

Of these, only Holoholokū has been largely restored.

History

Wailua was the land of the ali'i

Ali'i

Alii is a word in the Polynesian language denoting chiefly status in ancient Hawaii and the Samoa Islands. A similar word with the same concept is found in other Polynesian societies. In the Cook Islands, an ariki is a high chief and the House of Ariki is a parliamentary house...

(kings) and was one of the largest ahupuaa

Ahupua'a

In old Hawaii, ahupuaa was the common subdivision of the land. It is comparable to the tapere in the Southern Cook Islands. The traditional subdivision has four hierarchical levels:*mokupuni *moku...

(subdivisions) on Kauai. It is said that King Kaumuali'i

Kaumualii

Kaumualii was the last independent Alii Aimoku of Kauai and Niihau before becoming a vassal of Kamehameha I of the unified Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810...

's favorite place to live was in Wailua. There are Hawaiian heiaus starting from the mouth of the river all the way to the summit of Mt.Waialeale. The huaka'i po

Nightmarchers

In Hawaiian legend, Nightmarchers are the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. On the nights of Kane, Ku, Lono, Akua, or on the nights of Kaloa they are said to come forth from their burial sites to march out to past battles or to other sacred places. They march at sunset and just before the sun...

(Ghost Warriors) are said to walk ancient trails along the river at night up to Mount Waiʻaleʻale

Mount Waialeale

Mount Waialeale at an elevation of , is a shield volcano and the second highest point on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. Averaging more than of rain a year since 1912, with a record in 1982, its summit is one of the rainiest spots on earth....

. Wailua has many legends about it and was once home to many Hawaiians.