A lawsuit against the state blames the deaths of two visitors last December on a Kaua'i hiking trail on misleading directional signage posted by the state.

Elizabeth Brem of San Diego, 35, and her 39-year-old cousin, Paula Ramirez of Colombia, died Dec. 19, 2006, when they fell 300 feet after mistakenly choosing a dangerously steep path to 'Opaeka'a Falls.

The suit filed Nov. 21 at Kaua'i Circuit Court said the state posted a sign that read "Danger Keep Out Hazardous Conditions" on the trail that forks to the left off the trailhead. That trail is the one used by hikers to reach the base of the falls.

Brem and Ramirez took the trail that forks to the right, which is unmarked. That trail "is a treacherous, impassable trail that leads to a very steep and slippery drop-off," attorney Mark S. Davis said in a news release.

"The signage would certainly lead a reasonable individual to conclude that the safer trail discussed in numerous guidebooks and frequently discussed by local residents was the one which was unmarked and not subject to the 'keep out' sign," Davis said.

Davis is representing Brem's family while Teresa Tico of Lihu'e has been retained by the Ramirez family.

Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, reserved comment Wednesday because officials had not yet received a copy of the suit.

Brem was a Yale University graduate and a merger and acquisitions partner at the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, who had been appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy Board just before her death.