Liliuokalani Park and Gardens

If you are looking for an absolute picture perfect, relaxing way to end your day Liliuokalani Park and Gardens is the spot for you! It is a Japanese garden, approximately 30 acres, filled with walking paths, bridges, koi ponds, Japanese lanterns and statues, and a large variety of trees (including amazing banyan trees). We wandered through the park as the sun was setting on our second and third days on the island. The path is littered with those sharp pine needles that I’ve warned you about before, so flip flops might not be your best choice. There is a lot to see here, so comfortable shoes are a plus. We attempted to walk every trail and cross every bridge our first visit, but it was at the end of the day and we were too tired to get to all of them. We went back on our second night to walk in the areas we had missed the night before. 

Taking a rest in Liliuokalani Park

You can see in the picture above some of the many bridges that span the large koi pond. You can also see that there is a parking lot between the park and the bay.  There is also parking along Banyan Street. Our hotel, Castle Hilo, was right next door, so we just walked over. The park is located on Banyan Drive, you can’t miss it if you drive down Banyan, but the actual address is 189 Lihiwai St. in Hilo, Hawaii.  The parking lots are on Lihiwai St.

A view from the covered bridge in Liliuokalani Park

This was one of the most peaceful and relaxing places that I have ever visited. If you are ever in Hilo, it is certainly worth stopping by. The average amount of time spent here, according to Google, is 45 minutes. I would say we easily spent that amount of time each night, walking, sitting, enjoying the view and the atmosphere.

Picture Perfect at Liliuokalani Park in Hilo

The trees in the park were amazing. The grounds are kept in excellent condition. The park is open year round and is free, so no reason not to visit!

I have to admit, the Banyan trees really mesmerized me. I could have hung out here all day.

I love that you can see a car in the background to really grasp the size of these trees. These were located at the far end of the park from our hotel, so we sat on those benches for a while to relax and enjoy the view before heading back.

Beautiful Bamboo trees in Liliuokalani Park, Hilo, Hawaii

A lovely way to wrap our our second and third nights on the island. A lot of people may say there is nothing to do in Hilo, stay on the leeward side of the island. I say, they haven’t done their research.  We filled three days with adventures on this side of the island. We again spent the night at Castle Hilo and headed to Akaka Falls State Park, Onomea Bay, and Mauna Kea for day #3. If you would like to see some more pictures of the park Wikipedia and To-Hawaii.com are two good websites with more pictures.

As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

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Visiting Liliuokalani Park