The 'Waimea River' is a river on the island of
Kauai in the
U.S. state of
Hawaii. At 19.7 miles in length, it is one of the longest rivers in the
Hawaiian Islands.
It rises in a wet
plateau of the island's central highlands, in the
Alaka'i Swamp, the largest high-elevation swamp in the world. It flows south, passing through the spectactular 3,000-foot deep (900 m)
Waimea Canyon, known as the "
Grand Canyon of the
Pacific."
The valleys of the Waimea River and its
tributary, the Makaweli River, were once heavily populated. It enters the
Pacific Ocean at
Waimea, near the
1778 landing place of
Captain Cook on
Kauai.
External links
★
Geology of the Waimea Canyon Area