Question 1

Are the Stairs open? Can I still climb them?

Accepted Answer

No, the Haʻikū Stairs are currently closed and illegal to access, no matter how you access them. There are no legal tours of the Stairs, nor any guides with special permission to hike them. Persons caught attempting to access the Stairs are liable for a trespassing citation and a $1000 fine.

Question 2

Why should we try to save the Haʻikū Stairs if the City Council has already approved a budget to remove them?

Accepted Answer

Removal was estimated to cost $1 million in 2021, went up to $1.3 million in 2022, and was awarded for $2.5 million in 2023. The City has failed to provide a fully detailed project budget so taxpayers can see exactly what is covered in their multi-million dollar removal plans.
 
When you add up all the likely costs of removal, permitting, mitigation and remediation, it's easy to get to a figure of $10+ million. The upper bound of removal costs remains unknown because public construction projects in Hawaiʻi have a habit of running into overruns and unexpected complexities. Furthermore, the Haʻikū Stairs are situated in a geologically unstable and ecologically sensitive terrain that is prone to extreme weather.

It is far from clear that political will exists to fund an endless money pit dedicated to a destructive act that the majority of Oʻahu voters, and Haʻikū Valley residents, oppose. The City has tried to railroad this process through an undemocratic and nontransparent fashion. This will come back to bite them.

Question 3

Are the Stairs dangerous?

Accepted Answer

The Haʻikū Stairs are the safest way to climb to the peak of Puʻu Keahiakahoe. There have been 0 deaths or serious injuries from a fall and 0 lawsuits in the 80-year history of the Haʻikū Stairs. Up to 20,000 people per year used to climb the Stairs when they were open legally during the Coast Guard era. There were no injuries, no rescues, and no issues with trespassing. The steel handrails and non-slip steel tread on the steps allow for a safe trip up and back down. The helicopter rescues often reported being from the Stairs are from nearby hikes or trails, like the unsanctioned Moanalua Backway trail (read more about this trail below).

Question 4

What about the people who have gotten lost or went missing trying to hike the Stairs, like Daylenn Pua?

Accepted Answer

The Stairs have one path up and down the mountain. It is difficult, if not almost impossible, to get lost unless you step off the pathway of the Stairs. Reports of people who have gotten lost trying to hike the Stairs are oftentimes hikers climbing up the Moanalua back way. 
 
The disappearance of Daylenn “Moke” Pua was a tragedy that occurred in 2015. The Big Island teen was reported to have gone missing while trying to reach the summit of the Haʻikū Stairs. This story has been widely told and reported, making national news at the time. The circumstances of Daylenn’s disappearance has since been clarified by a thorough investigation, including eye witness reports, cell phone records and video footage.
 
Daylenn almost certainly died trying to go up the Moanalua back way. A subsequent police investigation backed by eyewitness accounts and cellphone records have confirmed that Daylenn was aiming for the Middle Ridge Trail, made a wrong turn, and ended up at the top of Kulana'ahane at the saddle. Daylenn sent a photo from there, as documented here. 
 
The Haʻikū Stairs provide a safer path for hikers to explore and appreciate nature. One clear path up and down, non-slip steel steps, and handrails on both sides offer much greater security than most other hikes on the island.

Question 5

Can’t people just hike up the Moanalua back way instead of the Stairs?

Accepted Answer

The Moanalua Valley* to Middle Ridge trail, or Moanalua back way, is an unsanctioned alternative trail that hikers use to climb the mountain, and we do not endorse hiking it. This route is exponentially more dangerous than the Haʻikū Stairs, having been the cause of numerous injuries, lost hikers, helicopter rescues, and at least one probable fatality (see previous question). Not only is the Moanalua route dangerous for hikers, it causes untold destruction to the land. There is catastrophic erosion on the mountainside as a result of a constant stream of hikers using spikes and ropes to climb their way up the mountain. 
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The Haʻikū Stairs, as they are, cause no damage to the surrounding land. The elevated metal structure keeps hikers from trampling on foliage, and they provide a much safer path to the mountain’s summit. If the Stairs are removed, hikers would likely continue to climb the leftover trail, turning it into an eroded and dangerous route, like the Moanalua back way.

*Update: As of June 2024, the Moanalua Valley Park and the entire Moanalua section of the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve is closed to hikers to deter trespassing to the Haʻikū Stairs. The Honolulu Police Department has stated they will have zero tolerance for trespassing and will cite anyone who enters the park.

Question 6

What about trespassing?

Accepted Answer

Trespassing is a serious concern. The harms it has caused to the community are real and must be addressed. However, removal of the Stairs will not end trespassing. The Stairway to Heaven is internationally renowned. Images of its panoramic vistas are widely promoted on social media. Removal of the Stairs will not end the pent-up demand to climb them. Hikers will likely still scale the ridge regardless, and they will trespass to get there. The City’s proposed partial removal will only eliminate the safe and easy Stairway access toward the summit, as BWS’ 2019 Final Environmental Impact Statement admits: Because the City plans to remove only the Stairs modules while leaving the supporting anchor pillars bolted in place, the remnants will function as an attractive nuisance. Climbers will attach ropes to this ready-made scaffolding and scramble up the mountain. Even if fewer hikers attempt this climb, they will do so at greater safety risk, heightened environmental harm (causing erosion, spreading invasive species, trampling endangered native plants) and perpetuating the City’s liability exposure. 
 
This is not an issue of “hikers vs. community.” The Haʻikū Valley community itself remains divided on the Stairs issue. Many residents have either climbed the Stairs themselves or would like to. Doing so forms a rite of passage for many neighborhood kids. Despite the harm and suffering that trespassing has caused, many residents would like to find a solution to end trespassing and keep the Stairs in place.

In the long run, managed access provides the best solution to eliminate trespassing. There was virtually no trespassing during the Coast Guard years when legal access was available. Trespassing only became an issue when the City & County closed the Stairs after the Coast Guard pulled out. Reopening the Stairs under managed access would allow demand to be managed responsibly and generate funding to pay for effective security.

There is much more that could be done to control trespassing in the interim. The City wastes money on ill-designed security measures that could be redirected more productively. Instead of patrolling the neighborhood in squad cars, which does little to stop trespassers from sneaking onto the Stairs, security could control trespassing at the base of the Stairs themselves. Once hikers are on the Stairs, they have nowhere else to go but up and down (and nowhere to hide). Thus, stopping trespassing is feasible with more effective enforcement strategies.

The Friends of Haʻikū Stairs is working to remedy trespassing issues. We have joined with the Kāneʻohe Neighborhood Board to convene a permitted interaction group (PIG) to address this problem through community-driven solutions. The PIG includes Neighborhood Board members, as well as residents who oppose the Stairs and residents who support the Stairs. It meets every six weeks to build a consensus around commonsense solutions. You can read minutes from the PIG meetings and an agenda for future meetings here.

Question 7

Are the Stairs on sacred land, important to Hawaiians and their culture?

Accepted Answer

There is nothing sacred about the land on which the Stairs rest that differentiates it from any of the countless hiking trails on O’ahu that ascend to a summit view. It is true that generally the highest peaks and uninhabited areas of the mountains were considered wao akua or realm of the spirits under the kapu system. The kapu system forbade many things including the ability of men and women to eat the same foods at the same table (ʻai kapu). It was publicly abolished in 1819 by the young Liloliho, son of Kamehameha I, at the behest of high-ranking aliʻi such as Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani.

Question 8

Isn't the existence of the Stairs a reminder for some native Hawaiians of the current illegal occupation of Hawai’i?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Much of the ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia, from mauka to makai has been negatively impacted by military occupation or is still under military occupation. An 1851 map detailing the post-māhele lands overseen by Abner Pākī show five kalo loʻi in the ili of Haʻikū that no longer exist. Heiau that existed in the valley were bulldozed during the building of the 1942 telecommunications complex. Jet fuel and gasoline containing PCBs were used to defoliate Haʻikū Valley between 1973 and 1983. That said, many native Hawaiians have come to value the Stairs as a cultural and recreational resource. Cultural practitioners have also taken advantage of the unique access that the Stairs provides to reach native plants for gathering and educational purposes. A 2022 poll showed that a majority of native Hawaiians favored preserving the Stairs under managed access, along with a majority of Haʻikū Valley residents.

Question 9

Don't you think public recreational use is incompatible with a residential neighborhood?

Accepted Answer

The Stairs are on empty public land, they are surrounded on all sides by empty publicly owned lands. The closest house is about 1/5 mile away. There are roads on both sides that bypass residential neighborhoods and would allow public access without disturbing residents.

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