We did not have spikes or gloves and it was 100% fine, but it would have been a help especially if there has been recent rain. Also please pack out your trash! How To Get There: Stairway Entrance / Directions, Deaths On The Stairway To Heaven In Hawaii. Ironically, the general consensus is that the stairs are actually a safer and easier route to the top of the mountain. Instead, retrace the Moanalua Ridge route to get back to your original destination. Still, thousands of people make the climb every year, and for good reason its one of the most spectacular hikes on Earth! At the peak of the Moanalua Middle Ridge Trail, you will catch your first glimpse of the radio tower/satellite. Hiking can be dangerous, and not every trail is a good idea for every person. If you knew anything about natural resources, you'd understand that this isn't just about respecting something that's sacred but rather protecting a watershed that provides benefits that you clearly take for granted. A helpful tool I used was to count the 4 wheel drive road crossings (ie concrete slabs) over the river bed. Officials said he collapsed while hiking the Moanalua Valley. Have some light. Thank you. The Stairway To Heaven hike is much longer, steeper, harder, and scarier than the Koko Stairs. Are there hand-holds on the places that were sheer drop off on both sides? Wear proper foot ware, including hiking boots, spikes, and gloves. Its 328 steps to a raging waterfall. Ill keep this blog post updated. If its your first time on the trail and you lose sight of other hikers, take care to keep to the right once youre about two miles in, as heading left will take you to a different trail. Editors Note: We love hiking! ; and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The terrain can be quite crumbly, with steep drop-offs so you do need to keep your focus throughout this hike. Trail reports are used to indicate a trails current condition and inform builders and other riders about any issues on a trail. Distress hikers rescued off Moanalua Valley Trail Friday evening By KITV4 Web Staff Mar 19, 2022 0 HONOLULU (KITV4) - Honolulu Fire received an emergency 911 call about hikers in distress on. More recently, Honolulu Mayor Blangiardi has publicly stated he may be willing to consider new options to save the Haiku Stairs, and Hawaii Senator Schatz has pitched the idea of handing it over to the federal government to renovate and operate, with a different entrance so all parties are happy. Distress hikers rescued off Moanalua Valley Trail Friday evening. Please do not bring your babies, this hike is far too dangerous for young children. 6 rides; 11 miles avg distance; All. Really bites that we struggled through mud for miles and never found the trail. Give me a break!, its a hike, and a damn good one at that! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Hi! What can be earliest time to start this hike? To begin the Moanalua Valley Trail you will first need to drive to the Moanalua Valley Neighborhood Park and park in the streets nearby. Its here, you should remind yourself, as you make your initial descent, not to rush. This hike is long, and the weather can change quickly along the trail as you ascend to just shy of 3,000ft elevation. The police sometimes send an officer to hike up to the summit to give out fines and one time a police helicopter even landed up there. (A proper trail runner or hiking shoe. Basically, politics and money got in the way of this epic hike. There is a bathroom and water at the park only. This is known as the back way for the Stairway To Heaven. Anthony Polizzi, said Col. Dan Dobbels, 15th Wing commander. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Create a password that only you will remember. Oh my! A day after announcing his death, officials identified him as New York native and U.S. Air Force Capt. It's not about the rules and laws I've cited. My issue isn't with people hiking to the stairs, its with people using Moanalua to hike to the stairs and not caring about the impact they are leaving while doing so. Some of the pages on my travel blog contain affiliate links. My issue is with the degradation of the endangered Elepaio habitat that exists in that valley. Anyone who hikes the 10 miles round trip is obviously going to go to the top of the stairs, or beyond. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your Tripadvisor performs checks on . The view is wonderful worth the hike. Aloha, for those that think this trail is legal and open to the public with no repercussions, you are wrong. The Moanalua Valley Trail takes you up a steep, strenuous dirt path with ropes and no stairs. Now that you have made it onto the Moanalua Middle Ridge, the trail is quite easy to follow as it basically follows the ridgeline all the way up to the summit. Thank you for sharing your experience and pics. One way to reach the off-limits Stairway to Heaven is to start on a different trail from Moanalua Valley. This Trail is ILLEGAL. It's not quite the same experience as climbing the stairs from the bottom up, but you can still reach the Hawaii 'Stairway To Heaven' trail at the top and go back down in either direction when you're done. The last crossing is allll the way at the end, and immediately after that last crossing, it's dense 12ft tall grass and the trail disappears. IG: @ lis.aloha. This trail in Oahu, also known as the Haiku Stairs, takes you to the top of the Koolau mountains via 3,922 metal stairs of pure adrenaline and doom. There is one short section of stairs that was mangled in a storm, but the damage is pretty minimal and you can pass that part without any trouble. listen to flash flood warnings. Unfortunately, in September 2021, the city administration randomly reversed this decision and decided they would rather spend $1.3 million to remove the stairs, which could happen as soon as 2023. After you reach the first platform, the hike flattens out quite a bit and things get much easier. More advanced hike along the ridge line. Please explore other trails nearby. The views are incredible and worth every minute and mile of this trail. 29, 2020 while hiking in Hawaii as Capt. Subscribe to my newsletter for the latest blog posts, tips, & travel guides. These are my most popular blog post and guides from the beautiful island of Oahu to help you plan your trip! In this web series,we bring you our favorite Oahu trails once a month. The World Travel Guy 2023 I hope it will be repaired and preserved for people to enjoy forever. Make sure you at least have the basics and you will be prepared for bad weather or any mishaps on the trail. A Mariposa County sheriff's deputy walks in a remote area near where a family and their dog were found dead . The area escorts us into a network of trails here, where the middle ridge opens up upon crossing a streambed found just after the marker for the Kulanaahane Trail. Plan accordingly. I hope to do it again someday. Winds were rough as gusts reached up to 40 mph but not once did we feel our lives were threatened. Many people come unprepared for hiking on Oahu and thats why there are so many rescues. Been there. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. I first discovered the Stairway To Heaven Oahu hike on the internet in 2015 and knew I had to try it. To put it another way, THIS HIKE IS ILLEGAL. This is my Journey Era. Aloha! We did the Uncle Toms Trail in Yellowstone and for me that was one of the best little adventures Ive done. No skate shoes.) Cool ridge hike, 4hrs at 28 mins moving time. a pic? Judd Trail Mountain View is an out-and-back trail where you may see beautiful wildflowers located near Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. I appreciate the outpouring of support from our ohana.. Additionally, along the trail there are several ropes which people have tied tied to help with the hike. Be prepared for lots of mud! There should be more information about this soon. But, this is just the beginning, and there are more to scale, a handful of which require ropes already strung along its steepest sections, and I gather this will be the theme of the day: up and down, then up again until theres nowhere else to climb. The Moanalua Valley Trail isnt as popular as the Haiku Stairs themselves but it is growing in popularity and the trail can get quite busy. Thank for your continued support. This is the trail that leads you up the Moanalua Ridge, also known as the Moanalua Middle Ridge. There is a little sign right before accession, go to the left and instead of keeping left, take the middle right path up. This blog post will explain some of the details and history of the Hawaii Stairway To Heaven hike, and then Ill discuss some of the politics behind the stairs and plans for their future. The first part of the hike takes you through a bamboo forest. Start hiking along the road/trail just past the bathrooms. The trail begins at the end of Moanalua Valley at Moanalua Valley Park. If you think about it there is a large number of people on 24/7 neighborhood watch and some are very angry and extreme. Legal Statement. Also, more so than the Moanalua Middle Ridge Trail, the peak to the radio station is far muddier and much more slippery. No experience and with a 8 year old. age 94, passed away on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at the St. John of God Retirement Center in Los Angeles, CA. It all goes back to a history of lawsuits from people getting injured while hiking in Oahu and then suing the state. While holding back any visions of being on the verge of setting foot on an old Dharma station (LOST fans, you'll understand once you're there), the 20-30 minute hike to the radio tower is full of its own challenges. Moanalua Valley Trail to the Haiku Stairs (Stairway To Heaven) [CLOSED / PRIVATE PROPERTY] Hard 4.7 (2199) Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve Photos (5,275) Directions Print/PDF map Length 10.5 miElevation gain 5,029 ftRoute type Out & back Bummer, this trail is closed. I hope my travels give you the motivation to set off on an epic adventure of your own. Generally considered a challenging route. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. To remember: You came this far. We won't share it with anyone else. Nowadays, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply owns the Hawaii Haiku Stairs, and theyve repeatedly talked about the idea of tearing them down for political (liability) reasons. For safety. Nathan Stowell, 25, died on Sunday after falling 400 feet off a hiking trail of Hawaii's Mount Olomana. Regular athletic shoes will not do the job. There is an entry along the fence that will go through. Maybe we miscounted the 4 wheel drive crossings because we were at 15 or 16 when we hit the Kulana'ahane trailhead (on the left). It is for this reason that it is NOT recommended to hike this trail in heavy rains due to flash flooding. The key in the first part of the hike is to be cognizant of the distance you are covering as the ridge trail is somewhat hidden and can be easily missed. Id allow a good 4hrs to hike if with a group and more time if the conditions are windy or muddy. I think even not super experienced hikers can complete as long as they take at their own pace. The Moanalua trail can be muddy after rain, so check the conditions before you go. 0 rides ; 6 Months. . Fortunately,Oahu is full of great hikes. Its actually one of the safest parts of the hike IMO. When I did the Haiku Stairs Oahu trek for the first time on my birthday in 2016, the weather started out clear but then some clouds came in. The trail starts as a road barred by a green gate. Theres a tree branch that has Middle Ridge carved into it as a reference point. olson.wyatt@stripes.com Twitter: @WyattWOlson. All anyone posts on here is about hiking the "legal" way, its not. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. After all, well be inching closer to the sun at an elevation gain of about 2,585 feet from where were currently standing. The stairs were then opened to the public until 1987 when they were deemed unsafe because of disrepair. The Moanalua Valley Trail to Haiku stairs hiking route is one of the most adventurous hikes on Oahu. I'd recommend doing this hike early as possible to avoid the potential crowds. -Dogs and babies not advisable on this trail. The final major rope section was a steep gravel wall at an aggressive angle that required you to pull yourself up with the rope. (Facebook/Nathan Stowell). Here are my hiking essentials. Being inside the Forest Reserve is completely legal, as is being on Kamananui Trail. At this point, it becomes a ridge walk as you keep gradually ascending to the radio tower, and even on a cloudy day the views are spectacular. The fine is reportedly $1000 if you are ticketed at the summit or on the stairs. That hasnt stopped locals, hikers, and tourists sneaking past a guard who is posted at the bottom of the stairs to experience the thrilling 4000ft long climb along an 18-inch wide staircase reaching heights of above 2000ft. Every time I turned around to look back towards the city, the view just kept getting better and better. The hike follows the Moanalua Valley Trail before connecting up the Moanalua Middle Ridge, which is the legal backway to the Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) satellite summit. The trail is a little over 9 miles roundtrip and took us about 7 hours (we hung out at the top for 30 minutes or so). Thanks for looking! Monalua Ridge offers legal access to the top of the Haiku Stairs (note: they are illegal to go down). So if you're going to be later than that park outside on the street so as not to get towed. This is the end of the Middle Ridge Trail. Polizzi graduated from Miami University, Ohio, from which he was commissioned through ROTC and entered the Air Force June 7, 2011. Views are worth it. However, if you cross over and set foot on the platform of the satellite or venture onto the stairs you are now in an illegal area. Trudging up the slope, it takes about half an hour to scale the first hump. Follow a small path in the grass, or walk to the Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden is on my list of the top ten most beautiful nature places you can drive to. (Damon was the son of Bernice Pauahi Bishops husbands business partner. If you are inside a Forest reserve outside of those times and without a camping permit, you are in violation of the HRS chapter 104 rules and can be cited. At another, I cut up my knuckles clawing for exposed roots to keep from tumbling down the rugged spine. The Olomana Trail is strenuous a 4.5-mile rocky path spread across three different mountainous peaks, according toSummitPost.org. Ill also share my full experience and all of my photos including some epic shots from the summit so you can get an idea of why this was one of my favorite hikes on Oahu, Hawaii. This is a review for hiking the Moanalua Valley to Middle Ridge to Tripler Ridge (AKA the legal back way to the Stairway to Heaven) and then down the stairs. Date of experience: June 2019. Although small and unmarked its an obvious trail. It was gorgeous & worth all the aches later lol. He was a freelance writer and journalism teacher in China from 2006-2009. Furthermore, Hawaii State Forest Reserves have other rules, such as what time they open and close, yes you read that correctly, Forest Reserves are only legal to hike in 30 min before sunrise to 30 min after sunset. ", Barney Griggs, a spokesperson for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, said anyone who wants to hike the Olomana Trail "should be an experienced hiker. My issue is with the erosion scar that's been exacerbated ten-fold on the middle ridge allowing invasive species to spread further and further to the summit. Too many litterbugs on the island sadly. This is a beast of a hike, my friend says, as he slathers his face with sunscreen, the tinted kind that leaves streaks on your skin like war paint. Amazing! No such facilities are available within the valley itself. HONOLULU (KITV4) Honolulu Fire received an emergency 911 call about hikers in distress on the Moanalua Valley Trail on Friday evening. We make our initial ascent. Easy hike through the lush forest of Kamananui Valley. Pass the little sign and stream and itll be on your right. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Hey there! Not only are the views out of this world, but the whole experience is just beyond awesome and unique. The Moanalua Valley Trail to Haiku stairs hiking route is one of the most adventurous hikes on Oahu. Park off the Old Pali Highway before the lookout in the dirt parking lot. shoes meant for hiking. Continue on the main trail up and up and up. Please see J T s comments below before attempting this. This will lead you to an open grassy valley that gives you spectacular views of the valley. A guy yelled and cussed at us and sprayed us with water with blue dye. Usually trail run in the valley or hike up the ridge a couple times a week. Lots of people sliding down on the trail or ripping out plants because they dont have traction damages the trail and makes it worse for everyone else. Went up the stairs last week with wife and baby. Once finally at the peak youll see the Haiku Stairs Radio Tower comes into view. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. As the years have gone by and patience thinned then disappeared completely, hikers have tried to be more stealthy but its a little too late I dont know about you but if all that was happening on a near daily basis to my neighborhood, Id be pretty upset too! Know your physical abilities and limitations; select trails that can be enjoyed safely. Start at the parking lot at the end of Moanalua Valley Road. I didnt need spikes but some good traction helps. Invalid password or account does not exist. Ive done the Hawaii Haiku Stairs hike several times now, and even after traveling in many countries, its still probably my favorite trek in the world. We celebrated National Take a Hike Day (Nov. 17), with a round up of our top picks for the best hikes on the Island. Find adventures and camping on the go, share photos, use GPX tracks, and download maps for offline use. Moanalua Valley Trail to the Haiku Stairs (Stairway To Heaven) [CLOSED / PRIVATE PROPERTY], https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/document-download?id=11354. Please be respectful to the place we call home and follow the rules. The cause of the airmans death is under investigation. The 31-year-old native of New York was assigned to the 15th Maintenance Group at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the Air Force said in a statement Thursday. Good luck and enjoy! The ground can get dangerously slippery and muddy. I lived for a few years in Kaneohe (graduated James B Castle HS) some 50 years ago and NEVER knew about the Haiku stairway. We did run into a few people who had gotten lost at the start though. From a timing perspective it took me 3hrs and 5 minutes but that was solo. The Stairway To Heaven trail is scary, but not very dangerous in my opinion unless you goof off or do something dumb. Mahalo! FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii The Air Force has identified the airman who died Tuesday while hiking in Hawaii as Capt. The seemingly level elevation from point A to point B can be misleading and the giddy nature of being so close can come with a lack of focus. However, we wouldnt recommend running. ALLTRAILS and the AllTrails Mountain Design are registered trademarks of AllTrails, LLC in the United States as well as certain other jurisdictions. As someone who grew up in a nearby neighborhood in the 80s and still has a good family friend that lives IN the Haiku stairs neighborhood Ill tell you one thing hiking blogs and social media posts dont seem to mention the history of bad behavior from young, disrespectful hikers who arrive at 4am, dont even try to keep their noise levels down, cut through the backyards of residents, and use residents hoses to rinse off after hiking the stairway. However, its possible to take some great pictures on the stairs and then leave via Moanalua without hiking the entire stairway from top to bottom, that way you get to experience some of both hikes. The view from the tower is the most spectacular although there will be lookouts before which are gorgeous as well. a view? There were 2 other parties of 2 hiking that day, plus a group at the top who came from the other trail that made them muddy and take much longer. 44 Hawaiian and Pidgin Phrases Every Visitor Needs to Know, 20 Thoughts Every Hiker has had on the Trail Up Koko Head Crater, Shop These 5 Sophisticated Aloha Shirt Brands, The Enduring Nostalgia of Hawaii's Historic Drive-In Restaurants, Find Solitude and Serenity at the Waipio Wayside Bed and Breakfast, How (And Where) To Watch the Massive Waves on Oahu's North Shore.