This is the legal way to get to the Haiku Stairs. It's a very fun trail in its own right! Whenever it gets slippery, there's a janky rope to help you up. It might be useful to take microspikes (you know, the ones usually used for icy sidewalks) in particularly wet conditions. I got up early, hit a bakery at 6am and then started making my way up. The trail is really well maintained with beautiful views on the way up. Unlike so many Oahu hikes, the parking lot is also very straightforward. read more

Great experience, went with a group of friends for a walk around and got to experience the beautiful nature,

I did this hike the more legal way lol aka the long way with a group of people. I started at 6:30am and parked a few blocks from the entrance of Moanalua Valley Trail Start (1849 Ala Aolani St. Honolulu, HI 96819). The first hour of the hike was pretty much flat and consisted of crossing some small patches of water. Prepare to get your feet/shoes wet and that soggy water feeling. Then we made a left turn at a sign and that's when we started to go up. During the 2-3 hour trek up is when it started to rain and get very windy. We had brought gloves to use and spikes to put on our boots...which I'm so glad we did! The muddy terrain made it very slippery and we noticed a few people coming down because they said it was too wet. They did not make it to the top of the hike. I'm glad we were not discouraged, and we kept on going. The scenery during the climb up was breathtaking....so green and beautiful. There were some parts of the hike that were almost vertical climbs but we noticed a few ropes dangling to hold on to. You will need some upper body strength to pull yourself up some rocks and be careful of your foot placements. At the top it finally cleared up. Although it wasn't raining anymore it was still windy. Bring a windbreaker or something to keep yourself warm and wet wipes for your hands. You will get muddy during wetter periods. The views were of course amazing!!! I'm so thrilled I did this hike on 9/19/21 as the news said that Hawaii will be dismantling the steps. Get this hike in soon if you still want to be a part of history before they are taken away. To my surprise, I got cell service just fine and was able to text people during the hike and at the top. The hike down was somewhat easier but still very muddy and slippery because of the rain. We started at 6:30am and stopped at the top for an hour and was down by 2:30pm....so 8 hours total. Plan ahead and start this hike early! Bring water and sunscreen. Bring sandals in your car to change into when the hike is over. I will always remember this hike and as strenuous it was at times, the views along the ridges and at the top made it all worthwhile! read more

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5/8/19 6:45 am. 2lwe started the hike from the parking lot at the Moanalua Valley. Facility has clean bathroom and extra water faucet to wash off. Met local gentlemen who was coming down from the hike. He said river bed is dry meaning, no rain. Awesome! There is confusion between Moanalua Valley and Moanalua Middle Ridge. They are two different hikes but one must do the Valley first to get to the Middle Ridge. The Valley hike is mostly flat with gentle incline and wide road. After reading many reviews and seeing some YouTube videos, we were ready for it. I even had screen capture of directions on my phone. Dont get confused of getting on the Moanalua Middle Ridge Trail from Moanalua Valley Trail. See my photo of Kulana'ahane Trail sign. Stop at the sign and look across the creek. You will see the trail and small brown wooden sign 10 feet off the ground. If you can't see it, just cross the creek from the sign and get on to the trail. You will see the wooden sign and also fallen tree with trail engraved on it. If you are able to see the sign, you are on right trail and it will start ascending very quickly. Lot of other says not to cross the creek at this point and look for either pink ribbons, large rock or peelings tree bark. Over time, they have changed or hard to spot them. The direction on "Alltrails" are vague about the critical turning point. Cell reception: Xfinity mobile was excellent. I was able to make phone calls throughout the hike. Mileage tracker: I used free version of Endomondo which was very helpful on tracking my progress. About 3 miles was done on wide gravel road. When the wide road turns into narrow single track and haven't crossed creek, you have passed the Kulana'ahane Trail sign. When you cross the creek at the sign, it's all on narrow ridge road hiking up with rapid accent. Good luck and you will be awarded with amazing views. Fitness level: dont get confused with leasurly hiking on the four wheel drive road. Actual Middle Ridge trail are narrow, slippery and 100 to 1000 feet drop on each side. Water: hiking thru humid condition definitely requires more hydration. Adjust accordingly for 7 -10 hour hike. Once you cross the creek, you do not have water source. read more

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Hard hike but lots of people are on it. My husband and I hike often and consider ourselves in shape. We don't really take a break while we hike and it took us 5 hours to get to the stairway and back to the bottom (includes quick stops for pictures, water, snacks). There wasn't water in the ridges so we were able to do it pretty fast. Didn't have spikes or gloves and you definitely don't need them if it's not wet out there. Bring sunscreen, water, and snacks. Be sure to watch YouTube videos on where to turn. There's 1 turn that's not marked and could as to an hour detour if you miss it. Our watches said it was 10.2 miles total. There were helicopters flying by to make sure people weren't hiking on the stairwell. read more

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If you're looking to check Stairway to Heaven hike off your bucket list, this is one of the legal routes to do it! The longest, most strenuous, and hardest hike I have done! Things to Do: 1. Download the AllTrails app!!!! This is what saved our butts from not getting more lost. Awesome app that can pinpoint pretty precisely where you're at on the map, even without cellular signal (you'll have to pay for a whole year subscription of about $30, but trust me, it's worth it to not get lost especially having to climb up that ridge, you'd want to save up all the energy you have for it). Just make sure you stay on the trail according to the map and you'll be golden! 3. Plan for a minimum of 8hours round trip, including time that you want to spend once you reach the top. Don't start any later than 10am. You want all the day light time you can get. We are not the fittest people with 6 pack or anything, but I want to think we're pretty fit, still took us almost exactly 8hrs 4. Pack a minimum of 1.5-2Liters of water/person, and some light snacks. There are plenty of strawberry guava especially at the beginning of the ridge. Don't depend on them much since they seem to be loved by a lot of hikers too. 5. BRING GLOVES!!!There's a bit of rock climbing you'll have to do, literally. There are ropes already tied up by the kind hearted previous hikers, where it's extremely inclined. Whoever you are, thank you, thank you!!! 6. Get some shoes spikes. They're not a must (we tried to get some right before arriving here, but couldn't find any at the nearby Walmart so decided to go without). The ridge trail can have a lot of rolling dirt and pebbles. The spikes will for sure give you some extra grip. 7. Go early around 7-8am if you want to secure a parking spot right at the park. Otherwise, plan to park further away on neighborhood streets. 8. Bring headlight if you're planning on starting super early or staying late to catch the sunset. You will definitely need it to go down that ridge. 9. A GoPro would be perfect to capture some or all of the hike. You want to keep your hands free for some part of the ridge that you'll literally have to be on all 4 to climb up. 10. Bring a sweater and some rain gear. It gets extremely windy and at least 15-20 degrees cooler once you get to the top. It's also very common for the rain to come and go quickly (even tho the weather forecast in the general area might say sunny all day). Here's a summary of our experience: We put in the GPS the address of Moanalua Valley Neighborhood Park at "1857 Ala Aolani St, Honolulu" as the starting point for our hike. There's a small parking lot (enough for maybe 10 cars top) right in the park, but a lot of locals come here to walk the park trail, along with the ridge hikers, so be prepared to park on the neighborhood street. There are pretty much 2 main parts to this hike. First park is the walk in the park that's nothing like "a walk in the park". It's about 2.5mile long, with a small part (maybe 20-30 feet) that can get very muddy. Look for any nearby "trails" when you get to that muddy part. It'll help a lot if you don't want to start climbing the ridge with heavy muddy shoes. Most hikers who get lost trying to hike this ridge, get lost close to the end of this walk in the park. Once you have walked about 2.3miles or so (my number might be a bit off), the trail seems to end at the dry (or wet? When it rains) river bank. DO NOT try to cross over and CLIMB UP one of the trails you might see. If it requires any almost vertical climbing, you're heading the WRONG WAY!!! This is speaking from experience unfortunately. We climbed our butts up one of these trails, almost fell and broke couple bones or more, only to realize we were going the wrong way after almost 20-30mins. Get on that dry (or wet) river bank, but continue down along it. If you have the AllTrails app, stay on the trail in the app and you're good. If you don't have the app, there will be locals who come here to walk this trail (not climbing the ridge), ask them. Again, don't attempt to climb up any crazy trails you might see. They're NOT the one! About a quarter a mile after that point, you'll know you're on the right path when you come across a clearly marked sign "KULANA'AHANE TRAIL" and "Flash Flood" warning on your left hand sign. DO NOT turn here, keep going another 20-30ft until you see a huge rock with some rock balancing on top in the middle of the river bank. There's a tiny trail across that, get on it. This is the 2nd and final part of this hike (1 way of course). The trail will open up more and lead you all the way to the top. Once you get on this ridge trail, there's NO WAY you'd get lost. Just prepared to keep ascending the next 2 hours or so until you get to that iconic radio tower. Whoever reading this review and got this far, thank you! lol Hopefully my review has cleared up some of your worries and prepared you for this crazy but rewarding hike! ;) read more

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Of all of the paths, you take in life make sure a few of them are dirt... I would definitely say I'm a hiker. I am an experienced hiker. I hike in every city I'm in. I've hiked Half Dome at Yosemite National Park and Angels Landing at Zion Park. These are some of the scariest hikes you can do and they are both pretty tough to say the least. I'm gonna try to keep it in bullet points so it's easier to read for people that want to take a quick look. Things you need to know: -An advanced hiker might be able to do this in six hours however 8 hours is going to be more likely because of the weather conditions. Mud, rain, and wind will slow you down! -It's easy to get lost because the signs are not clear to get up to the stairs. (I had to stop many times to make sure I was on the right route and got lost once and I'm pretty bright.) I heard many people get lost. -After a few days of rain, it's super muddy and you won't be able to walk on the trail so you will have to find other routes unless you want to sink in the mud. And when I say sink I mean it in some spots you could possibly sink all the way up to your calves. I felt like a monkey trying to hang off the trees to not sink in the mud. Note: I have very expensive hiking boots. -It was super windy when I went so the wind might slow you down. Hold on to the rope when it's windy. Seems obvious but the wind can sneak up on you. -The hike is long and steep which I like but I started at 12ish and that was too late. I thought it was too dangerous to go down the steep ridge in the dark. With great weather conditions, and a direct trail I probably could've made it up at 3 or sooner but because of all the reasons listed above I got up to the top at 3:45. Then it took me another 15 minutes to get to the stairs because it was so muddy and steep. I was sinking into the mud and I just wasn't prepared for these conditions. I guess I wasn't as bright that day because this was a pretty stupid decision. -Scaredy cats don't apply. This might be obvious but if you're scared of heights you definitely do not want to do this hike. If you do you might just pee in your pants. This is a great hike if you want a good workout. Common sense things would be...wear great hiking shoes, do it early enough so you don't end up in the dark. I don't think there's a huge necessity for food. I brought one large bottle of water and it was fine. My biggest problem was not having enough time in the light to get down without getting lost and the mud. Even though it hadn't rained that day it had lightly rained the day before and the day before that. If you do this hike and it's not muddy, go with somebody who knows the route, and you're in amazing shape then you could probably knock this hike out in three hours each way. For other people, I would give yourself four or more hours each way so at least eight hours round-trip. My only reason for giving 4 stars is because the trails don't have clear signs to get up to the stairs. The views at the top are definitely 5 stars worthy. I would hike this beast again but I would be better prepared next time! Sometimes you take a walk in the woods and come out taller than the trees...that's Moanalua Middle Ridge! read more

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DON'T follow my example and only get 2 hours of sleep the night before attempting this beast. It's around 4 hours one way, and a lot of it is intense! DON'T wear your cutest pair of leggings, you will get dirty. There are parts of the trail that are muddy, probably 365 days/year. DO go with someone who has already conquered it. Along the trail, we encountered several individuals who had turned around/started over after they found themselves on an even more treacherous route. Lopaka H., two friends visiting from California, and myself began our adventure at around 7:30am. We took a few breaks along the way, to re-fuel and take photos. I brought 2 liters of water, but I suggest more if possible. Interesting fact: I didn't have to pee at all the entire time, and I drank all the water I brought. Was it exuded as sweat, tears, or drool?! Probably all of the above (haha just kidding) but mostly sweat. This is a hike that will test you mentally and physically. I train 6-7 days/week and think I'm in decent shape, and thought it was challenging. The sheer duration and incline caused cramps in my legs. There are sections of the trail that will require you to put your trust in the strength of some sketchy looking ropes. I had gloves and spikes, which helped a lot. Also, don't forget to bring any medication(s) that you may need. I am prone to headaches, and got one around 3/4 of the way up. Despite the challenges presented, the risk was definitely worth the experience. The views are gorgeous, I recommend taking as many photos as safely possible, the camera in your mind will thank you one day. I will return to this ridge, armed with more than a few hours of sleep and adequate hydration, and hopefully when the bruise on my toe finally subsides. read more

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Yowza baby! Took this route to get to the top of the Haiku Stairs and I'm super proud of myself for making it at a good clip! I went with a fairly advanced hiking group and was pretty worried I wouldn't be able to keep up, but I definitely did and wasn't dead the next day, and even wanted to jog back the last part. Parked at Moanalua Park, took the easy walk to the trail start (about an hour), and then we were off. I think we were lucky that day because we had very light drizzle and fog, with some areas where the wind picked up considerably and I kept very low to the ground to traverse the ridge. We did use spikes, which probably helped a lot. I barely used the ropes, preferring to do some climbing on the way up and "vaulting scoots" if you will, on the way down. We completed this in about 6:20 as a group of 9, with about 20-25 mins at the stairs. We had just a few short breaks to snap a few photos here and there, but mostly hiked uninterrupted. A few in our group finished earlier (doing the return at a faster clip) and one guy even went so far as making it the top (maybe an hour ahead) and coming back down because he "thought we weren't coming". WTF! He was insaaaane fast. I'd consider this an advanced hike for the average person. I had a brioche bun and peanut butter for breakfast, brought 3L of water, but only used 1.5 or so, and had some trail mix and a hard boiled egg at the top. I surprised myself by how little food I needed, since I brought a whole slew of snacks, thinking this hike was going to be much harder than it ended up being. Honestly thought I was going to die aka turn around, when I saw our very fit leader downing a 5 hour energy at the beginning of the trail. I am not sure how best to judge, since the group I went with does Koko Head Crater stairs 5 TIMES IN A ROW for conditioning purposes. Needless to say, I definitely thought I was going to be the weakest link and I don't do long distance hikes, but I definitely had a strong performance. I'm really proud of that and feel like I can do more than I initially had thought. I wouldn't be surprised though, that the average is about 8 hours round trip. There were a lot of people on the trail. We went from 8-2 and rarely were alone. read more

First of all let me say that anybody tells you that this hike is a beginners hike is an absolute lie, it is not. Maybe at the beginning the first hour or so it is more of a walk but once you get past a certain point be prepared. It is one of the most difficult hikes that I have ever done and I did the spartan trifecta in one weekend here in Hawaii. I was tricked into thinking this was a beginners hike so I was extremely surprised. I didn't make it up to the top we made it to about the midway point which is 2,109 feet up in the air. The wind was so bad and the clouds were coming down so it was unsafe for us to continue. That brings me to the hike down, which is by far harder than going up the rocks are slippery a lot of 90° angles the ropes that are in place are helpful but deceptive so you have to be extremely careful. If there's any type of precipitation out there you may as well just find a place to camp because it is close to impossible to not get hurt going down if it's raining. Now to the good part the views were absolutely breathtaking and I can only imagine what the views are from the complete peak, which I do plan to try to see again when I am more mentally prepared. It is at least a nine hour hike because that is how long it took for us just to get to the halfway point that's round-trip. So I'm thinking probably about five hours all the way to the top in five hours down so it's going be at least a 10 hour hike so go early. Bring plenty of water with you and a flashlight or head lamp in case you get caught in the dark. Please pay attention to the weather reports when it comes to wind advisories because on that ridge there are no trees there is nothing to hold on to. if you were to get a huge gust of wind it is extremely dangerous. When were descending, we saw several medivac helicopters going to rescue people who had fallen and or had gotten lost so just be careful. The pictures are great but they don't do the beauty justice. This is an honest review from a novice hiker but an athlete. Definitely a bucket list hike. read more

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Moanalua middle ridge to Haiku stairs (stairway to heaven) Best hike I've ever done. I'll Try and be as detailed as possible to help especially with info on exiting the haiku stairs. I've divided the hike into 4 sections hope it helps somebody. Section 1. The start We Started the moanalua middle ridge track at the park at the end of Alo aolani St. We Walked through the gate at 7:45am. Terrain initially is good, shade was great. TRUST in the path, don't go off it into the few tempting paths that stem from it. You will cross the stream around 14 times and walk for approximately an hour before you reach the sign for the Kulana'ahane Trail. As per previous reviews the trailhead for middle ridge is a few steps past this sign. As of March 6, 2017, this entry to the middle ridge trail was marked with a pink ribbon. You now begin a trek through the forest as your body switches gears from flat walking to hiking/climbing through trees and so on... Section2. The ridges and rope climbs You'll trek through ridges going up and down for about an hour and a half. nothing too dangerous YET, I always felt safe as long as I was careful. There were a few rope climbs but they were easy and I'm not upper body strong. Hardest thing for this section is just the will to keep going, but the views start to present themselves and they just keep getting better. Eventually you'll see a long rope climb ahead with multiple ropes to help get climbers up. These held my weight and I'm 130Kgs. Once you make it up this rope climb and a few more ridges the tower will present itself. Congratulations, when you first see the tower your only 30-45mins away from the stairs but be warned, it now gets technical! Section 3: the Tower The tower is a teaser, but more importantly it's a sign that the technical part of the hike is now upon you. The track changes to a more muddier (if possible) steep, and arduous terrain. Take your time and be careful. There are paths that are on an angle and narrow so be careful. Eventually You will reach a rope climb that is longer than the others. If you don't have gloves are if your unsure of your ability, twist the rope around one arm while climbing. When you reach the top here it's a matter of navigating the twisting freaky pathways. Do NOT trust the trees covered in moss. They won't hold you. Track is muddier and steep leading to the end. Highway makes itself visible to your right but don't lean over too much. A final climb and you've reached the stairs. Well done! This portion of the hike for two people takes around 3.5-4hours. We enjoyed the top and took photos and decided to go down the stairs to complete the loop. We went down the stairs in about 1 hour (45mins really but Wifey kept taking photos). Section 4: Exiting the Haiku Stairs When you get to the bottom of the stairs there is a gate, go around this gate. You'll see a fence in front of you with a hole in it, go through this hole. You will come out and be exposed to the guard. We walked straight ahead, straight past the guard to a hole in the fence slightly to the left. Go through this hole, be careful of the barbed wire. You will come to a mud slide going down with lots of rubbish. Use the bamboo to get down safely. Once at the bottom, you'll come out onto a street (remember your in private property on this street and all the way until you make it out to the houses). Turn LEFT (DO NOT TURN RIGHT AND WALK THROUGH SCHOOL) and walk down a short distance then turn right. Once you turn right, you will walk for 15-25mins until you come to the gate. If it is closed you'll have to find a way through somehow. It was opened when we went through around 1:45pm so it was an easy exit. You are now in the neighbourhood. No hassles from neighbours but we were respectful and quiet walking through. From here you may opt to get an uber/taxi but we decided to continue down path on the left to the pre-school where we got our uber from. We took an uber back to Alo Aolani st, which was 20mins and cost us $26USD. Weather was ideal for this hike, little wind, no rain and ground ha dried from the rains 2 days before. I can see how this hike can be dangerous with those elements added. It was so satisfying doing this hike from the ridge more so than if we did it from the stairs. The views were amazing, and trekking through made it that much more satisfying! Happy hiking peeps. read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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FINALLY had a chance to do Middle Ridge and it wasn't nearly as crowded or hard as I thought it was going to be. Obviously novice and unprepared hikers may struggle, but intermediate hikers with good stamina and the right equipment (gloves, spikes, water, food, sunblock, rain shell) will find it a walk in the park. My friend and I are both distant hikers and in great shape; with spikes and gloves in tow we made it to the top in under 3hrs and that's with no breaks and a few turn arounds. Yep...the hardest part is finding the turn off because we kept second guessing ourselves. As the other Yelpers said, travel the Moanalua Valley Trail for about 1hr/3miles, pass the Kulana'ahane Trail sign and turn left across the dry stream bed. You'll see a tree with Middle Ridge carved in it and you'll know you're headed the right way. The rest of the trail is self explanatory. And if you're one of the many to find FOG and NO view up top, walk 20minutes down the stairs to find AMAZING views! Trek on Yelpers! read more

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One of my favorite Oahu hikes. I'm surprised there aren't more reviews since this is the safest, legal way to the Haiku Stairs. People say this trail is sketchy so I'm guessing they're talking about the shoulder-width ridge parts to the top. Don't get me wrong, it is one of the more challenging & varied hikes I've done (and I hike hard trails quite a bit). The trail is long (a little over 12 miles round trip) & the first 3-ish miles are boring since you're walking along a flat yet rocky road to the trailhead (a couple feet past the Kulana'ahane Trail sign on the left). The trailhead is extremely easy to miss! It's just a small opening after the sign & you cross what looks like a dry creekbed. The trail incline goes up pretty sharply after you cross the first streambed. Get yer glutes ready. We did this hike during very un-ideal conditions - especially for a ridge hike. The wind gusts were up to 30 MPH & at times, we had to clutch a random bush to stabilize ourselves as we waited out these gusts. We also got rained on. The trail itself was surprisingly pretty dry but the loose gravel made it so slippery. We each fell a couple of times on the way down. The rope sections weren't terrible. If the trail is crowded (there were 20 ppl around us), be prepared to wait your turn. Because we spent quite a bit of time on the stairs & because of the gusts of wind, the whole thing took us about 8 hours. Be sure to bring: - shoes with traction (it can get slippery with the exposed & smooth tree roots). I wish we had microspikes. Those would've helped a lot with the slipping. - food (not really safe to be lightheaded on the trail) - gloves (extra grip is great & the last rope is pretty thick. Mad Grips is the brand I went with) - Camelbak bladder in a backpack (so you don't have to carry your water in your hands & worry about scaling up/down rock faces) Parking: Put this in Google Maps: Moanalua Valley Trail Start (Kulana'ahane), Ala Aolani Street If you're hiking some other hikes on Oahu, these same items would be very helpful for those (e.g. Olomana). Also, we encountered a wild boar on the flat part of the trail on the way back to the car so be careful of those. read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - so worth it - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Be warned, the trail is deteriorating. It is busted up from the rain, wind and of course heavy foot traffic!! This has become a very, very popular trail. There are times when you are waiting in LINE to get climb the rope sections. We didn't have a line to wait....not many people wanted to attempt the hike this day. My friends and I have been wanting to complete this beast hike for awhile. The weather is unpredictable as we have experienced several times. We started with sunny weather, but by the time we reached the open ridge (around the area where the large rock WAS---not sure what the heck happened---did some IDIOT(s) kick it down?), the winds had increased, the clouds were descending down the valley and then the rain came. It was pouring. So we waited it out. We decided to push on after the rain decreased. The wind increased to a good 30-45mph, especially at the top. There are areas in which crouching low on the ridge and bear crawling is useful. There are about 7-8 rope sections. BE CAREFUL, there are sketchy rope sections. Always test it. AND NEVER USE THE ROPE WHILE SOMEONE IS ON IT. Seen many impatient/inexperienced people do this. You can hurt the person above or torque the rope to a breaking point. Just imagine how many people before you have used it. Once at the top and 1st radar station in site, you're about 20 minutes to it, depending on weather. at the fork, stay LEFT. if you want to hike Tripler ridge (you can see the radar station to the right of you on the ridge)--go for it! We have completed the Moanalua Middle Ridge and now have completed the Moanalua Middle Ridge to Haiku Stairs. Out and back trail 10-12 miles (depending on how far you go down the stairs and back up). Bring: at least 3L of water, rain jacket, Gloves, shoes spikes (leave in bag just in case it gets muddy---you'll be happy you had them if needed), snacks/lunch, hat, camera (of course). Please malama aina, pack out what you take in. Up at the old radar stations, there is so much trash--wish we had brought bags to pack as much as we could out. If you have done Mount Ka'ala, then this will be a good one to compare. I prefer Mt Ka'ala and its beauty/plants/preservation. The day that my friends and I went, we all agreed that because of the weather conditions on this day, Mt Ka'ala was a piece of cake in comparison. Be safe on this trail. Know your limits. You can always return. Aloha. read more

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Be warned. It is dangerous. Not for the faint-hearted. We went in late March wanting to get to the Haiku stairs from the Middle Ridge trail, 6 girls, moderately active but in no way any expert hikers. From the Moanalua parking lot, It took us 6 hours one way to the top/ Haiku stairs, and we hiked another 6 hours back. 6 people is too big a group for this type of hike, we have to stay in formation and go up the rope one by one, so it takes much longer. It was raining the day before so it was muddy and chilly. It was about an hour on flat ground (muddy plus puddles) before hitting the actual trail, starting at a river bed with giant rocks, and from there it is UPHILL ALL THE WAY. The beginning 1/5 of the trail is shaded, you are walking (uphill) among trees and bamboo forest. It is so steep sometimes you have to grab onto tree branches to pull yourself up, although not the safest. After that, you start walking on mountain ridges with low twigs and branches on the side, and they are SHARP. I got numerous cuts on my leg and still have a scar. Also watch where you are stepping because you can easily trip over roots and branches. Now still going uphill, for the middle stretch of the hike, it is never ending mountain ridges with cliffs on both sides. The trail is about 1 ft wide at this point, one mis-step you are rolling down the side of the mountain. There is no shade, no trees, no nothing, this is where you would consume most of the water. Also, this is where you start having the ropes and start climbing on all fours. I don't know why we didn't turn around at this point... Speaking of ropes, there are maybe 5-7 sections with ropes. Many hills are so steep that are almost vertical, and you can only go up one by one on the rope. Going up is MUCH easier than going down. The last 1/3 of the trail contain lots of 'ups and downs', like some reviewers said, 'fake summits'. I can see the destination a few hills away, but somehow we have been climbing one hill after the other and didn't seem to get any closer... At this section, there are also some trenches, that are narrow, steep and muddy, you can only fit one foot at a time and I pretty much slide down the whole time. Once you reach the top, the view is amazing! you can see the Haiku stairs going down the hill on one side, the mountains on the other side, and the city. Too bad we didn't have enough time to enjoy the view because we have to head back. Going back I realized how steep it was coming up. Some sections I have to sit on my butt and scoot down, and it got worse at the ropes. It was SO scary going down the ropes, with cliffs on both sides, I am literally hanging onto the rope for my dear life. It was hard to find footing going down since you can't really see when it is so vertical. Once or twice I lost footing and slammed myself on the hill, and I seriously suspect I cracked a rib. It is a miracle I made it back in one piece. I really recommend having realistic expectation before attempting this hike, are you fit enough? Can your group make a round trip before sunset? do you have the right gear? Do you have enough water, food, and a first aid kit? Will I hike the Middle Ridge trail again? Not in a million years. But It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience! read more

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Conquered this beast yet again this past Saturday (15 Apr). We went up to Tripler Ridge this time, then over the KST to the old comm tower, passed the connector of Moanalua Middle, then to the top of Stairway to Heaven. Absolutely perfect conditions until about 1/2 way DOWN Moanalua Middle trail (on our descent) where the sun was super hot. Nice and overcast on the hike up then at the top and down the stairs, the clouds disappeared for fantastic photo ops. Maybe 10 steps along the entire 10.5 miles were muddy. Couldn't believe our luck! Doing Tripler Ridge adds some distance and seemed steeper, but there's plenty of shady areas so even if the sun had been out, the shade would have been very welcome. Just as you begin the ascent, it's really steep as you're heading up, then following that ridge up you'll be traversing the edge of the ridge. Not super steep and the potential drop offs weren't scary. Just keep pressing on and climbing up. Finally, after about three hours we made the top of Tripler Ridge. Spent just a few minutes there as we wanted to spend more time atop the stairs. So, down to the left we went following the KST to the first comm tower (climbed it for the pics), then back up the KST to the merge with Moanalua trail. There's plenty of rope lines along the KST here. Nice to have something to hold onto while traversing the KST since the drop off on the Windward side is a couple thousand feet nearly straight down. Having said that, while STOPPED to take pics/selfies, and looking down I didn't feel scared about the height/drop off whatsoever. The trail is two or more feet wide the entire time, so without mud/wind, it really wasn't a concern at all. Now you're just nine minutes to the goal, the comm tower above Stairway to Heaven. Made it to the top of Haiku in four hours. Took off my spikes and headed down 654 stairs (just past the first building/landing you can see from the top) for some great photo ops of the stairway and Kaneohe down below. Then back up those same 654 stairs! Rested at the top, refortified with lunch and water, put the spikes back on, and headed back down. We took Moanalua Middle back down. Again, beautiful trail conditions, super steep down hills and lots of ropes. As we were heading down (around 1PM) we passed some hikers still heading up. No thanks, that's wayyyyy too late to be going up! Finally made it back down to the valley which took about two hours, then another 55 minutes of walking the old cobble stone road until we made it back to the park. 10.5 miles, 3300 feet of elevation gain, 20% of the actual Stairway to Heaven walked, 2901 calories burned, in 7.5 total hours. Bring minimum 3 liters of water (I had 3.5 and finished with 8oz of water remaining), high calorie food to replenish, gloves, microspikes, hat, jacket (didn't need it this time, but last time it was cold at the top), and use sun block before beginning. Yes, these trails are steep and there ARE some really steep drop off areas, so know your hiking ability/skills before attempting this or any O'ahu trail. If heights bother you, either don't look down the cliffs or don't do this trail. This trail is not technically difficult but it will tax your body with the steepness and total distance. Make it to the top (on a clear day) and you'll have rewards that last a lifetime. Best photo ops on O'ahu IMHO. read more

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The Moanalua Middle Ridge Trail was a wonderful and challenging experience. I parked at the Moanalua Valley Park (roughly 12 parking stalls), put my hiking boots and sunscreen on, put my backpack with water and snacks on, set my GPS watch and headed towards the rear of the park to enter the trail. I started my trek at 0745, which turned out to be a perfect time of the day to start this hike. There were a few small groups of hikers that were very friendly and nice companions to have for the first hour. After the flat, and muddy, trail ended, things started to get interesting. I crossed a little stream and started my way up. The trail was covered by small trees for the most part but once the trees cleared away and the ridge line opened up, WOW, what a view. The valley is absolutely amazing once you make it past the cover of the trees. Once you get to the top, appreciate RADAR Tower and the work it took to run that small facility, take a deep breath and absorb the awesome views. I'm definitely happy that I made the trip and will do it again soon! Some tips: 1. Wear proper shoes with good traction. 2. Bring an extra pair of socks. 3. Bring at least 32oz. of water. 4. Bring a windbreaker or light rain coat (it is very windy and cool at the RADAR site). 5. Bring a ziplock bag for your phone so it doesn't get wet. 6. Wear tall socks or compression socks to protect your legs from small branches while hiking up the trail. Thank you, Salim read more

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This was .... Crazy. Absolutely worth it and such an intense amazing experience. Expert hikers only. You'll be muddy and your legs will be useless the next day but it's worth it all. We hiked it to the haiku stairs and then down the stairs and took a Lyft back to our cars. Guard at the bottom of the stairs was really cool and told us how to get out of the neighborhood. We went in October and the locals told us it was VERY very wet this year and very dangerous to attempt it. We went anyway. I would not recommend this hike in the condition we went in, it had been raining on and off all month and the mud was crazy. While the other reviews mention mud, this is the deepest, thickest, and slipperiest mud I've ever encountered. I would suggest getting comfortable with it early on because it will make your life much easier. There are a lot of very exploded ridge lines where it's sudden death on each side, with 30mph winds and a very slippery footing. We made it about 6 miles in and then when the ridge became extremely narrow and windy we decided to turn back because it was too dangerous. Luckily we then encountered another couple who like us, we're happy to encounter others. Seeing other people helped my confidence a bit and we preserved on. I've been on a lot of very rigorous hikes that surpass 10 miles and this was like nothing I've encountered. Very secluded and so so beautiful. It was so wonderful and I'm so glad we did it but I want people to understand the danger of hiking this without a lot of hiking experience and athleticism. TIPS- do NOT try to hike it back down, although other reviews say you can do it, I would recommend against it if it's as muddy as it was when we went. Hiking boots are not necessary but we wished we had them. You'll be walking through about 7 river crossings and mud is unavoidable. read more

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Amazing hike, incredible views! Make sure you go when it's NOT raining. Be super careful on the exposed ridge line parts.

One of the best hikes we've ever done! We did this while we were visiting on vacation in April. We had planned this for months and while I was sad we couldn't do the stairs entirely (we didn't want to risk getting ticketed), this was a worthwhile alternative. It is worth all the sweat and fear!! It is dangerous in some sections, but totally doable. Take your time and just watch your footing. I'm terrified of heights and consider myself an average hiker and I was ok (as long as I didn't look to the sides). The first 3 miles are flat along a gravel road. The rest is up the ridge. I didn't find it too metabolically demanding as there are enough flat sections to pace it out. I highly recommend using crampons... For me, it was the difference between feeling like I was going to die and not. I'm clutzy, so they made me feel secure and eased my fears... Especially in the slippery steep parts. I bought the Hilltop Freestyle6 ones... Best $40 I've ever spent. One of the final rope sections near the summit is the diciest and one of the ropes was hanging from a root that looked like it was about to pull out the dirt, so definitely don't put all your weight on it. I crab walked/slid on my butt on the way back down in that part. We lucked out and had clear skies the entire time. It had also been fairly dry in the days leading up so the trail wasn't too muddy (just the part between the summit and tower were really muddy). The view at the top is unbelievable. I've done a lot of hikes and this was probably the most memorable. You can see almost the entire island. The stairs are so cool... I will never forget this adventure. It took us 3.5 hours up and 3 down, with a 30 min break to play on the stairs. read more

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The best hike we've done on Oahu! Challenging, scary, thrilling, exciting! Bring gloves, shoe spikes, bug spray, lunch, lots of water, and sunscreen. Not for the faint of heart! Steep ridges with vertical drops on with side. Many ropes in place for steep inclines but don't trust the ropes completely. Go when the weather has been dry, not windy, cleat skies. Lots of mud when we went. Completed it in about 9 hours, with half hour rest at top of stairs. Enjoy it! read more

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Challenging at is it is rewarding. Do not attempt if you are out of shape, the area was saturated with rain, not properly equipped with ample water/snacks, and a plan for contingencies. This is a long hike , avg 8 hour round trip . Go early 8am at the latest, because they close the park entrance around 6pm, unless you want to fumble around the dark or have an uber. read more

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. Parking: Park at the Moanalua Valley Park. It is open 7A-7P but I started my hike at 6:15A and the gate was open. There's also a ton of street parking near by in the neighborhood. Since I took the Stairway down, I took an Uber back to the park. It cost $29.23 and I split it with two hikers I met on the way up. I highly recommend this if you're willing to risk being fined because you get the full experience. Just keep in mind that the stairs are illegal. Trail Head: The hike begins at the park. You will hike about 3 miles before getting to the middle ridge trail head. When you see a sign for the Kulana'ahane trail head, continue walking about ten feet and cross the dry creekbed. Do not follow the trail immediately across from the trail head sign or you'll be going the wrong way. Food/Water: Bring water and lots of it! I brought 3L for myself in my camelbak and still ran out. Bring some type of high calorie snack to eat at the top due to the fact that this hike is so long. Other Things to Bring/Wear: Wear long pants. There are plants along the ridge that will tear up your legs. Use bug spray, especially if mosquitos abundant when you go. Wear sun screen, even if it's not sunny when you start the hike. The clouds can move (duh!). Wear good hiking shoes (not just tennis shoes). And finally bring GLOVES! They help so much with the ropes and gripping the ground if you end up needing to walk on all fours when the wind picks up. I bought a cheap weight lifting pair at Ross for like 3$ and they did the job. Difficulty: The first three miles are basically flat (very slight elevation), so like 1/10 for that portion. The last two miles are incredibly steep and include some rope sections/open ridges with nothing to hold onto. I'd say about 7.5/10 difficulty for the total trail. Length: From the Moanalua Valley Park to the top of the stairs, the hike is about 5 miles long. It took me 3 hours to get to the top of the Middle Ridge trail (the part where you can first see the satellite) and another half hour to get to the top of the stairs. I took the Haiku Stairs down and caught an Uber back to the part. The stairs add another 1-1.5 miles. If you take the Ridge trail back, you're looking at 10+ miles. Terrain: The trail begins in the Moanalua Valley, a very flat well kept trail. After the first three miles, you hit the Middle Ridge. This is where things start to get tough. You'll come across rope sections and a few sketchy areas of the trail where the ridge is open and has no trees or shrubs to hold onto. Once you are able to see the satellite tower, you're on the Tripler Ridge. You've got maybe a 1/2 mile of hiking left until you reach the top of the stairs. I chose to take the stairs down and call an Uber after I heard that the guard at the bottom was letting people go up (and that there weren't cops there). The stairs are mostly in good condition but there is a section that has been bent/washed down by a landslide in 2015. It took an hour for us to hike down to the bottom. Once you're there, you'll need to hop a fence to get to the road. Please be respectful, as it is in a neighborhood. The View: Seriously beautiful. You get an amazing 360 degree view of the island when you're climbing the ridge trail. The view of the windward side from the stairs is breath taking. Danger: The first three miles are 1/10 danger. The Middle Ridge is definitely sketchy so I would say 7/10. The stairs are falling apart in some places and if you aren't careful you could definitely fall. I recommend not doing this trail until there have been at least 5 sunny days to allow the mud to dry up. Dogs/kids?: No/no. Get out there and hike! (: read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - The portion of the stairs that has been damaged by the mud slide in 2015. Still holds body weight but be cautious. - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Prep: *eat light breakfast and tons of water before you hike *stretch your body *bring 3L of waters and a Gatorade *light healthy snacks *Tylenol *bandage *rash ointment *mosquito repellent *sunblock *lip balm *plastic bags for trash *sunglasses and hats *jacket or windbreaker *eye drops (in case you got something on your eye) *walking stick (very useful for this) *flashlights (in case you didn't make it back down before dark) *bring extra clothes and shoes after the hike Outfit: *tank tops *long pants (you'll get scratched, bite, and scrape on) *shoes with cleats (so helpful and keeps you from sliding through the the whole hike) *gloves (you'll be climbing on a lot of ropes) Time to start hiking: *between 7am- 9am. NOT AFTER 9:30. You don't want to get back down before 6pm, it'll get dark Good condition to hike: *must hike with 0 chance of rain. Hike a week or two after the rain. DONT HIKE THE DAY AFTER OR DURING RAIN SHOWERS *Wind currents must be 7mph or below Caution: Beware of mud, rocky paths, narrow paths, mountain edges, tripping on roots, spiky bushes, strong winds, rain, and spiky ropes Parking: Park inside the park (opens 7am-7pm) Park on the street in the neighborhood (be courteous to locals) Rules: *Respect the neighborhood *do not throw trash (that's what the plastic bag is for *Take turns when climbing the rope at a time and when crossing sketchy paths *hike with a friend. DONT HIKE ALONE *hike back from the start, not down the stairs. YOU WILL GET FINE $1000, EVEN IF YOU HIKED ON THE LEGAL HIKE FROM THE START. As long as you use the stairs to climb down, you'll get fine. Go back to the route you start and end it there. *don't be under the influence of alcohol or drugs; you'll won't make it back down. **THIS IS NOT FOR KIDS NOR FOR DOGS** Total hike: 8-9hrs read more

This is a beast of a hike. A big, bad, beautiful beast. I'd say this is for advanced, in shape hikers only for these reasons: -Distance 10-11 miles there and back. -Elevation gain roughly 2000 ft -Conditions are either very muddy, or very windy, or both. -Some steep and slippery sections, though there are ropes. -Some very narrow sections with steep drops on both sides. What to pack 3L water, give or take. Snacks or lunch Gloves for the ladies, on the roped sections Dresses for the dudes that need gloves ;) The normal emergency hiking gear: Flashlight/headlamp, spare batteries, signal mirror, whistle, wind/rain gear of some sort, a little extra food, first aid basics if you feel the need. Lil' Tip Bring a towel, or extra clothes in the car. Expect to get muddy. For all day hikes like this, I like to bring a small cooler to keep my favorite drink ice cold, waiting for me in the car. Crampons are getting trendy among Hawaii hikers. I still prefer and recommend sturdy hiking boots instead. 1. They can keep the water/mud out. 2. Improved footing/balance (not necessarily grip) 3. Grip, although crampons may grab some terrain better, good boots still offer excellent grip. My experiences on the trail First time, it took us 3.5hrs to get to the top. Our pace was easy going but with very few short breaks. It was extremely windy, but relatively dry until we reached the top of the ridge. The windiest parts were also the most dangerous, narrow, slippery parts. These sections required bear crawling in some places, especially since the wind would switch from the left side to the right side without warning. Pretty gnarly. Second time, the wind was calm but the trail was extremely muddy and slippery, and it took 4 hrs to get to the stairs at a similar pace. Small streams of muddy water were flowing down the trail at the top of the mountain. It also took us about 4 hrs to get back down. It wasn't just the muddy/slippery factor though. That day was really tough on us. We were beat by the time we reached the gravel road again. Sore knees and feet, scraped and a little bruised, covered in mud. But we were all totally stoked. Third time, it was nice and sunny at the park but we had to cross A LOT of streams this time that were flowing over the gravel path. This took a lot of extra time. Then about 45 min up the actual trail, we had to turn back. Too rainy, muddy, slippery. We would have been hiking back in the dark. Trail head location Moanalua district park, just walk straight back. Walk the gravel road for 45-60 minutes until you reach the Kulana'ahane Trail sign on your left. DO NOT take this trail. This is just a reference point. On the same path you were on, just 10-15ft past the sign on the left, you'll see a another trail down into the stream bed and a tree with a patch of bark scraped off, this is where you will turn left to cross the stream bed, the trail on the other side is visible. Overall, I LOVE this trail. The challenge, the feeling of remoteness.. and of course, the reward at the top. It's a price to pay to see the legendary Haiku Stairs. Last thing If you plan to go down the Haiku Stairs, you should know a few things. The guard will be waiting for you, he will likely call the police before you get to the bottom, and there is a chance you will be ticketed, fined, and given a court date. If you're so lucky to avoid all this, be smart. Be low key in the neighborhood. Even in the middle of the day, be quiet and respectful of the residents. Pack out all your trash. To those who leave your trash behind, we will find out who you are and dump our shit in your yard one day. Huge mahalo to those who love the land and are willing to pick up after others. read more

Felt the need to review as some of these times are unrealistic and nearly caused us to not attempt the hike as it was already midday. From the car park to the trail head is an hour on completely flat ground. We are two men of slightly above average fitness, but in no way super fit. It took us 2 hours to the top (the dish). This was with plenty of stops and an average pace overall. Then we returned down the same route and it took us and hour and a half. Walking down was a nightmare due to loose gravel and the steep decline. We slipped multiple times. This hike is strenuous in parts and very dangerous for nearly all of it. If you're Japanese, don't bring your 8 and 10 year old daughters like the family we encountered struggling up there risking their lives. The hike involves some long abseils/climbs with ropes. If you can't mange this don't attempt it (the ropes are permanently there). This hike is extremely beautiful, but coming back down the same route is a bit disheartening. You can come down the power line trail instead (turn right at the top). But that is more difficult than this one. Things to take: just lots of water and sunscreen. Instagram: @aud_mc read more

This review is for the Moanalua Valley trail to Moanalua Ridge to Haiku and down Haiku. Hike time to top of Moanalua: approx 4 hour Hike time from top of Moanalua to top of Haiku: approx 1 hour (at a steady and safe pace) Hike time from top of Haiku down to the street: approx 1 hour (all legs baby, burn) Me: physically active, moderately fit, daily exercise Tip: Leave your squeamish attitude at the car, because you will get dirty, muddy, and sweaty. What to bring: mosquito repellant, sunscreen, a windbreaker/water repellant light jacket (just in case), a sturdy pair of hiking books with good grip (bonus point for water repellant coating), a pair of gloves with good grip (for use of rope sections going up, repelling down, and stairs going down), LOTS of water (recommend 3L per person), trail mix/snack enough for a 6hr rigorous hike, cell phone with full charge (just in case), shorts that do not get in the way of your knees (you dont want them getting in your way when you're climbing up vertical), sunglasses for up top, a nice camera for photos You park at the parking lot for the park. The first 2hr or so is a relatively easy hike with a moderate/light incline in the forest. You will cross approx 18 streams (at least that's my count today). Then, the trail (once wide and obvious) gets real narrow real fast. Soon, you find yourself at what looks like a dead end. The trail is still there, its narrow now, look for the yellow/pink ribbons tied to the trees, they mark the trail. Soon after this point, you will begin a vertical climb up the ridge. You will find the first rope section. Test out all the rope before you put weight on it. You will soon summit to the top of Moanalua ridge. The treacherous part is ahead of you (between Monalua and Haiku). The trail between the ridge is narrow in most places, with steep vertical drop offs at both sides. There are roped sections, use it. Test the rope, and watch your step. This section is more technical than it is tiring. At some spots, it would be wise to get on all fours. Also at the top, are high winds, it may be wise to keep a low profile. Soon enough, you will reach the top of Haiku stairs. You would think that stairs will be a welcome sight given what you've just gone through. Going down that many stairs after such a rigorous climb is going to be very taxing on your knees. If you haven't used your gloves yet for the rope sections, now may be a good time to bring them out. Instead of relying solely on your knees/legs, you can alternate tricep dips down the hand railings, this may save some time, it will definitely save your knees. Once at the bottom, past the security guard, turn left, soon you will see a fork, veer right, you will see a hole in the fence, follow through, continue on the obvious trail, you will hit Makena St. soon. Voila. read more

This was such a beautiful and amazing hike. I think the key is to go when the weather is good. We were lucky to go on a beautiful day and not only were the views amazing, but it definitely made the hike easier and less dangerous. But it's still muddy so that's unavoidable. The trail was very easy to follow and at no point was I confused about where to go next, EXCEPT for a section in the start where you were just walking along the road. My assumption was you just follow the road until you see the trail head but there's actually a section where you walk in to the trees briefly to avoid these huge rocks and stillwater. There are blue ribbons on the tree to indicate where you should walk in. I got a little confuse because I thought that was the start to a different trail BUT IT IS NOT. Fine to follow. As people mentioned, after about 3 miles on Kamananui road, you'll see the trailhead on the LEFT a couple of feet past the Kulana'ahane Trail sign. You start by crossing a stream and it's upwards from there. The first part was surprisingly tiring for me, even though my cardio is usually decent (the steepness was really tiring on the legs). After a while in the forest-y area, you'll reach the ridges. I was afraid that this part would be really scary but it wasn't that bad for the most part. There are a lot of bushes on both sides so it seems less scary and you can grab onto them for balance, but obviously, you still don't want to fall so be careful. The ropes sections were not that bad either. Overall, it took us a little under 4 hours up to get to the stairs, and about 3.5 down. We spent about an hour up top. Did not want to leave. Also, I did not see a wooden sign at the top that I saw in some pictures. Either I missed it or it's no longer there. I would start the hike early so you have as much time as you want to soak in everything. While you can do the hike faster, I would recommend that you take your time because it's safer and it's just worth taking some time to enjoy the views. Almost everyone we met along the hike were planning to return the same way. Some guy told us a helicopter dropped off a cop on the stairs and he might have been going down looking for people so yeah...not worth trying to take the stairs down. OVERALL TIPS 1) Go when the weather is good, for better views and your safety 2) Start early, bring lots of water, like 3L per person 3) Wear long pants, the bushes and plants WILL scratch and stab you. 4) Wear good shoes, bring extra pair of socks and/or flip flops to change into in the car 5) Gloves were nice to have 6) If you bring food to eat there (which you should!) bring some wet naps and Purrell because your hands WILL get muddy read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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The Moanalua Middle Ridge is the best hike I found in Oahu. I did it twice in three days, which gives me a little seniority, I guess. Check Melody T's review if you mean to climb down the Haiku Stairs: I went to the Stairs and came back through the same trail. THE GOING UP Park at the Moanalua Trail parking lot and walk through the gate for 30-40 minutes, till you get to the Kulanaahane Trail sign. Pass that sign and proceed a few steps further: our trail starts where the tree with a scratched cortex is (see picture). The first half of the ridge is pretty safe, as you are surrounded by trees/branches/roots. When you reach a solitary rock, then the hard part begins, with a narrow path with the abyss on both sides, usually under the high wind and nothing to hold on but your confidence. You'll start using ropes to climb the most difficult parts and the trail begins to become muddy and slippery. Gloves will help. After one hour or more walking, you finally reach the stairs and proclaim yourself victorious. As I wasn't in the mood for bacon, after a few up-and-downs on the stairway and tons of pictures, I headed back. THE COMING DOWN After you turn at the "Middle Ridge - To valley road" wooden sign (do not miss it or you'll go onto a different trail), you start your descent. At this point, your legs must be pretty sore, so my advice is to resist the urge to speed up and use your hands and your rear often. You'll be fine. read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - Access here - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Second time taking this trail. Its a great trail with a few ropes sections. Start at the moanalua valley park. Hike in about three miles. When you see trail head sign called Kulana'ahane, go past about 10 feet and to the left youll see a pink ribbon. Go over the stream and follow the trail to the top. Takes about 3hrs to the top but thats with taking bunch of pictures. You can continue past the top and end at the top of haiku stairs. 4 stars for not having an easier marker other than small pink ribbon. read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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One of my favorite hikes on the island. Went with the perfect conditions minus the clouds. It hasn't rained in about a month and we the trade winds kicking in, we knew it wouldn't be too hot. Conditions were nice and dry. Made it up to the summit in about 2:45 with a crew of 4. We were blessed with a decent view and were able to clean up some garbage at the satellite. Going down was quick, total time was about 4:30. This was including our 30 minute lunch and picture session. I'm these conditions the hike is intermediate. In wet conditions I would say more advance. I would do it again in a heartbeat! read more

Moanalua Middle Ridge - Nice breeze on the ridge - Hiking Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This was the highlight of my Hawaiian holidays. Beautiful, hard, dangerous but so worth it! Fact: you will get muddy and potentially throw your shoes away afterwards so don't bother wearing your nice new 'wheels'. The hike is hard but very doable to anyone with some level of fitness and hiking experience. It took us approx 5 hours from our car at Moana Valley Ridge trail start to the other side of the mountain via the stairway to heaven. We did well and I am glad I did this! Recommend starting early and going with other people. read more

I did the hike up to the top of Haiku Stairs (Stairway to Heaven slash the radio tower) and back down on 4/19/15. I didn't go down the stairs (I'm too afraid of heights and I believe there was a landslide at Haiku Stairs recently?). I started at 8:30AM and finished at 3PM, although I did get lost for 30 min. My Fitbit Surge said the total hike from start to finish was about 11 miles (3 on Kamananui, 2.5 up to Stairway, 2.5 back to Kamananui, 3 down to the car). I really like Melody T's review of the trail. Her review is the one I kept referring to before I started the hike. Moanalua Middle Ridge is an offshoot of the Kamananui Trail which starts in Moanalua Valley Park. You go through the gate up the hill in the park and walk along an unpaved service road. Kamananui Trail is mostly flat and there are neat placards along the way telling you about Hawaiian history. It really is a nice shaded stroll slash a good 3-mile warmup for the ridge trail, and took me about an hour to walk the 3 miles in. The trailhead for Moanalua Middle is on the LEFT side through a break in the foliage, 10-20 feet after the entry sign to Kulanaahane. (I will admit that I got lost because I went in the wrong trailhead. The incorrect trailhead I entered was on the right side, 50 feet up the trail, marked by pink/orange ribbons and blue numbers. It cost me half an hour going up that one.) Moanalua Middle trailhead crosses the stream immediately and starts ascending. There's no way around it--you'll be ascending almost the whole time as you gain elevation rapidly. The first 2/3 of the hike is pretty straightforward, with a few sections that require the use of all 4 limbs to scramble. The last third of the hike is tough because of the mud. It's slippery, eroding, and mushy so there's definitely some strategizing involved. Thank goodness for the plants aka stuff you grab onto along the trail! When you get to the top of the ridge, you're fully exposed to the elements, which include sun, whipping wind and rain (if you're super lucky). Of all the trails I've done, this one had the worst wind. It really goes after you and can throw you off balance (especially on wet portions of the trail). I noticed that the wind gusts really intensely in spurts, so I'd book it when it would subside a little. The last push is the most technically difficult. There are ropes involved and minimal footholds. (Going down those portions on the way back are like rappelling.) I can see that going as a group would mean going up one by one. The trail is narrow and very muddy. I was slipping and sliding in the mud and pretty much gave up hope trying to be clean. All maneuvering effort was just to avoid face planting in the mud. Once you make it to the top of Moanalua Middle Ridge (there's a wooden sign and a metal trail marker thing), it's another wet walk to the radio tower, which you'll see and feel motivated to reach. It's more of the same (mud and dirty ropes) except you can see Kaneohe and the H3 a loooong, deadly drop down. The views of the Ko'olau Mountains and Olomana in the distance are amazing and they make it all worth it. The radio tower was the windiest part of the hike! I hid inside to get out of the cold for a bit. It's sad how much trash is up there. Bring your stuff down with you, people! Note: I didn't go down Stairway because I wouldn't have had a ride back to my car. The way back down is a different perspective of the trail but you'll be smarter about where to step and what to expect. It took me 1.5 hours to descend from the top back to Moanalua Valley Park. A good time to attempt this hike would be after a stretch of dry/hot days so mud hazards are minimized. Also, start early to avoid full sun exposure on the ridge. Bring lots of water 32oz was barely enough for me), a few snacks and sunscreen. Treat yourself to Jamba Juice when you finish! read more

Crazy hike it was tough! You can definitely make it to stairway of heaven through this trial but it's a long one with steep drop offs

Hi i am looking for people can i join with my friend, we would to to go tomorrow, please let me know paulinakedzierska@poczta.onet.pl

I did this hike on 8 Jan 2017. I looked at a few reviews and decided to go. Most of the reviews claim this hike to be hard, it's not. It's long, there is a difference. I could not find the inside ridge, which is what a lot of people take going up and down, so I went up the outside ridge. It was fairly level for the first 3.5 miles. The last bit was a lot of switch backs, some nearly vertical. There were plenty of ropes to help during the ascend. The ones I needed, I used and the ones I didn't, I didn't. The elevation changed by approximately 1300 feet in a short amount of time on the outside ridge. The inside ridge is more of a constant slope, which is the way I went down. In addition to food and water, I would suggest a pair of gloves for the ropes. They aren't a must have but, I sure wish I had mine when I was descending. The views were simply amazing. It took me 5 1/2 hours to complete this hike, I hiked this alone, which is always faster then in a group. I didn't do anything special, I stopped for a snack 1/2 way up and at the top I had lunch and relaxed for about 15 minutes before going down. The link to my video of my hike. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfDOfNpW-I0 This is a great hike, enjoy. read more

I'm still having flashbacks from this hike and parts of my body still hurt a week later. Safe to say I'm probably not the greatest candidate for this hike, physically.. but we somehow did it lol. How? I'm still not sure. All I know is Haiku Stairs has been my dream destination for what seems like forever, and I'm born and raised here!! I've either always been stuck at work while my friends have gone OR they're deathly afraid of heights. Lo and behold one of my friends offer to take us this way bc I kept bitching and complaining about how badly I wanted to see Haiku but not pay the $1000 citation. She made me hella work for this. So, my bf and I have been in to this hiking fit lately like the rest of the island it seems. Just to get to the actual hike trail is about an hour walk. I thought we were fricken lost in the beginning bc we were getting no where. You make your way to a dried up river bed and cross over.. then from there, man..may the odds be in your favor. The incline kicked my chubby a_s! I think with even all my assumptions on how the trail could be, I didn't expect it still. Was it worth it 12 miles and 8 hours later (roundtrip?) definitely! The weather was ideal that day too. A bit overcast with some breeze, not enough to blow you off the mountain but enough to keep you from sweating. Bring lots of water. Both of our Camelbaks hold 3 liters each AND I bought a Hydroflask filled with ice and we ran out toward the ending of our hike. Remember not to put all your body weight on the ropes, we bear clawed on most of the steep parts. read more

Loved the middle moanalua to stairway!! Took us eight hours up and back! Spent an hour on the stairs and it was the clearest I have ever seen! Had to head back due to getting socked in and rain (slippery going back down the 100 foot section of rope!! Start at moanalua valley park head down past green gate and go through opening on gate! Travel 3.2 miles down gravel road to you see the kulana'ahana trail sign (do not go on this trail unless you are trying to do the saddle) 10 feet past you will find an opening on the left and you will see a boulder in the stream that is the most direct and less dangerous route! Immediately from the Boulder you will be going up to the ridge, you will be in a bunch of eucalyptus trees and it is serene!! Once you look out you will see how high up you have traveled! There are a few rope sections! Once you get to the boulder on side of ridge that looks like it is going to go right off! Stop and take pictures! Now the ridge becomes more exposed and when windy it can get kind of tricky!! Just keep low to ground and continue up!! Now you will go to a long ridge that leads up! Getting closer now you hit a rope section that is approximately 100 feet long! If you have crampons (shoe spikes) makes the rope section so much easier! Once and top you go around a ridge look to left you will see the radio tower to stairs (if socked in you may not see radio tower) It can be quite slippery due to rain! You will come to a platform where you will see the marker for middle ridge the way you just came! Once you are at the part, face away from sign and then to the the stairs you will go left, right would take you to tripler ridge!! This part is down once then up to the stairway! You are super close to the edge of cliff and can be slippery here and the rope is also slippery just stay to side and you will be at the stairs in a few!! We played on the stairs for an hour and came back down middle ridge!! What a great adventure! Have fun and be safe! read more

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Fiance and I attempted this hike on an early Saturday morning during the eve of Tropical Storm Darby. Of course, we wanted our final destination to be at the top of the Radio Tower and Haiku Stairs. Rain was coming and going during our entire hike. There wasn't much to see during the first hour. Couple of sections got our feet very muddy. And this seemed to be a repeating theme for this hike. Mud every where. LOL. Our feet got sunk into the ground a couple of times due to the mud. Very hard to escape. So if you get used to the mud early on, then you "should" be fine through out the rest of the hike, right? Wrong. LOL. Strong wind and Hard rain presented themselves as we made it out of the bamboo forest and into the open. We made it passed the part where that big rock used to sit and about 4 rope sections. We couldn't hike on any further because our shoes started to lose traction even though we had our micro spikes on. The hike got dangerous so we decided to go back even though we were 3 hours into our hike and possibly 1 more to go. We stayed low the majority of the time we were on the mountain ridge. We will definitely be back here again next year to finish this beast of a hike when good weather and conditions permit. Wooooo! read more

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I've read many reviews that this hike are for expert/very fit people, and I am not! I've been very sceptical to do this hike especially knowing I am probably not in the best physical shape to do it but was very lucky to have made through this tough hike, particularly with my boyfriend's constant motivation and pushing! It took my boyfriend and I about 10.5 hours return, 1 hour we were lost as we kept following the 'pink' ribbons past the Kulana'ahane Trail sign, instead keep walking until you see a creek on your left with the big rock/boulder. The branch with the pink ribbons that everyone has been saying has fallen and no longer there which was the reason we didn't notice the right trail. (refer to Mass T's review for the photo you should watch out for. I was able to hike this trail on a very beautiful day that wasn't too sunny and not windy! I think for me, the toughest part were the steep climbs up the ridges. The ropes and coming back down were fine for me. Wear long pants and gloves and you'll be getting muddy! The ridges are also not so narrow that you have to almost balance. There is enough space for you to walk across and lots of grass/trees/branches for you to hold on. Although we were rushing to head back to the car park before it closes by 7pm, I am super fortunate to witness the amazing view and have made through this adventurous hike! read more