Diamond Head to light up for hikers

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

The state's most prominent landmark is about to be upgraded with lights in the dark sections of the nearly two-mile hike to the Diamond Head summit.

For years, hikers have brought flashlights or taken their chances and proceeded gingerly in these dark areas.

Work begins tomorrow on a $240,000 project to install lights in the spiral staircase in the Fire Control Building and in the tunnel at the upper end of the summit trail. The park will be closed Mondays through Thursdays until the Oct. 16 completion. At each week's end, Friday through Sunday, the park will remain open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The narrow trails cannot accommodate both visitors and workers, said Yara Lamadrid-Rose, park coordinator at the Diamond Head State Monument.

Although there have not been accidents in the dark areas, she said, "with the increasing volume of visitors at the park, we want to improve safety."

More than a million visitors hike the extinct volcano every year, climbing to the 760-foot summit on designated trails.

The military dug the unlit tunnel, 225 feet long, to provide easier access to the crater. The fire control station was built in 1908, and the Army once ran electrical cables up the outside crater walls to provide lighting. The wires were removed when the military left the structure after World War II.

The improvements are part of a two-year plan that began work at the lower portion of the trail, Lamadrid-Rose said. The state added parking, planted a portion of the crater wall with native plants, and improved lighting in the Kahala tunnel in a joint venture with the National Guard.

The new lights will be attached to the tunnel railing and along the wall inside the spiral staircase, she said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.