Liliʻuokalani Gardens — Attraction in Hawaii

We were staying at the Naniloa hotel down the street and had 2 hours to kill before checking in, so I moseyed on over actually finding this place by accident on my way to see Coconut Island. What caught my eye were the ponds, bridges, and miniature pagodas. What a perfect setting to get in my daily walk!

The park is large, at 30 acres, and was dedicated in 1917 to honor the many Japanese immigrants that make up our state's population. The name Queen Liliuokalani (1838-1917) is homage to the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The brackish Waihonu Pond takes up about 1/4 of the park's footprint, with pathways that meander over and around the ponds via quaint stone bridges, one of them even sporting a covered seating area on it. A lot of locals were fishing in the ponds while others were relaxing under leaden skies. The majority of the area is covered in grass that was kept manicured. While a variety of trees are abound, one section of the park sported a cluster of bamboo trees, another with those spiny Japanese palm-like trees.

There was an unmarked, old wooden building on the Banyan Drive side of the park, but I couldn't figure out what it was until I Google mapped the park. Turns out its a tea house school that wasn't in session at the moment. Restrooms are located near the the school.

Near the middle of the park on a grassy knoll was a small bonsai tree with a sign stating "Prince Hitachi, June 21, 1985" who I'm assuming planted it. He is the brother of Japan's current Emperor,...

Came into town this morning to drop off someone at the airport. As is my custom I spend time in the gardens before I go home. I have a special bench I sit on under a tree facing the bay. Some really early mornings one is treated to the majestic view of the cruise ship sailing down the hamakua coast to dock at the Hilo port. Lovely days sunny but cool in the early morning. Peace abounds in these beautiful gardens

Update. The gardens are a fantastic place to walk. They hold a 5K event there a couple of times a year and I always enjoy completing them here more than any other 5K I’ve ever done. The gardens are pristine and beautiful. I still drive through and stop every time I drive from home into Hilo. They are adjacent to hotel row on Banyan Street, which makes it very convenient for visitors to walk and enjoy the sights of the Bay dotted with sailboats and an occasional paddle border kayaker. . Also very convenient to walk from the hotels through the gardens to the magnificent restaurant called Hilo Bay Café, which overlooks the bay and has an exquisite array of...

Beautiful park, however recently, homeless have staked claim and taken to sleeping/living/doing drugs in park restrooms, so they are unusable. Additionally, lots of trash left on the ground near bushes from people feeding all the hundreds of stray cats there. This attracts more and more cats to the area and people are now dumping cats there. This is a huge problem because many rate migratory birds use this park as a migration stopover point and are winter residents, and rare/endangered birds even nest here. Kolea (Pacific Golden plover) nene, pectoral/spotted sandpipers, etc. The cats are now everywhere and hunting/killing them. The food has also attracted large numbers of mongoose who have taken up residence in the banyan/ironwood root systems and culverts under walkways. I've seen it first-hand. There is still beauty here, but it is being ruined by humans more each day. The trash, the feeding of cats, the drug issues, etc. Can all be addressed. There needs to be accountability, education and enforcement of these issues or they will...