Get ready to climb Stairway to Heaven
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer
The scenic Haiku Stairs has moved a step closer to re-opening as a public hiking trail, possibly as early as next month.
Advertiser library photo • June 2001
The City Council yesterday approved an agreement with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which now owns the 140-acre section of Haiku Valley floor just below the city-owned stairs. The deal gives the city a temporary permit and the right to manage, maintain and operate the public trail also known as the Stairway to Heaven through Aug. 9.
The Stairway to Heaven had a corroded handrail a year ago and other problems along its way 2,800 feet up Haiku Ridge. A repair project was completed last month.
A land swap is in the works that could give the city permanent access.
The 3,922-step metal stairway climbs 2,800 feet up Haiku Ridge, offering hikers panoramic views of the Windward Coast.
Mayor Jeremy Harris signed the agreement yesterday. Spokeswoman Carol Costa said "it's the administration's goal to get it opened as soon as possible."
The stairs once provided access to the Coast Guard to maintain communication equipment atop the ridgeline but that need faded, the stairs rusted and some sections were damaged and removed. By 1987, the path was closed to the public although people continue to make the hike, even if they have to climb fences and trespass to get there.
City Councilman Steve Holmes has been working for years to have the city acquire the neighboring valley for a city nature preserve. Holmes said yesterday's agreement "is going to allow public access in the interim period while we work on the final solution for a land exchange."
Over at Hawaiian Home Lands, land management administrator Mike McElroy said his agency is interested in a land swap that would allow development of more residential homesteads on O'ahu, where many native Hawaiians would prefer to live.
Advertiser library photo
McElroy said the department will ask the Hawaiian Homes Commission at its meeting next week on Kaua'i to approve issuing a 20-year license to the city for "use of the stairs, access to the trailhead and pedestrian access from the H-3 access road."
Councilman Steve Holmes said the trail is "a pretty safe experience."
McElroy said Hawaiian Home Lands is working to find more land to develop as residential subdivisions and may tell the city what privately owned parcels it wants, then the city would acquire the land and swap it with the state agency.
"Most of our acquisitions have been in Central and Leeward O'ahu," McElroy said, where the city does not own a lot of land.
"We need to get the city to exchange land with us," McElroy said.
Holmes has heard the concerns about the city being held legally responsible for any hikers who get in trouble on the steep stairs. But he sees the government as less likely to face liability issues over the stairs than some other trails where people get lost and face other dangers. "By and large, this is a pretty safe experience," Holmes said.
He said that in some 47 years of existence, "no one has ever been seriously injured there." Last month, the city completed $875,000 worth of repairs which Holmes said put the stairway in "better shape now than it's ever been."
City special assistant George Tamashiro said the city would want to make sure that hikers receive instructions and advice on making the hike a safe one, including suggested dress, carrying water and allowing several hours to complete the climb.
Tamashiro said the city will need to post signs showing where people can enter, and that parking will need to be worked out as well as the issue of access to the trail.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
