Kīpū Falls is a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

in East Kauai,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Kīpū Falls has a dangerous reputation due to

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer a ...

deaths of five people in a five-year span, as well as numerous other injuries. Due to the drowning deaths, Grove Farms Company, which owns the land where the falls are located, decided to block off the access route. From a legal perspective, visitors were

trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, ...

, as the falls were not actually open to the public. Injuries became more prevalent after guide books began publicizing the falls. Kīpū Falls is also widely known for being the filming location of the introduction scene of ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

''.

References

Waterfalls of Kauai Tourist attractions in Kauai County, Hawaii {{Waterfall-stub