Hiking The Moanalua Valley Trail to the Haiku Stairs, Dangers and Warnings

The Moanalua Valley trail to the Haiku stairs hike is one of the most difficult, but rewarding trails you can do on Oahu. It is extremely dangerous and children and people with any type of hesitancy should never try to hike this trail.

I left my Waikiki timeshare with my friend Jason at 630 am and found the trail. Little did I know how dangerous this was going to be. There is not enough information on the trail online, as I think the Hawaii tourism authority tries to make the tail look fun for tourism. I want to tell you that you can literally die on this trail. No I know that any time you are hiking it can be dangerous. This trail is more than dangerous, it is plain stupid.

Do You Have to be fit to hike the Moanalua Valley Trail?

We are both pretty fit young men, with a lot of hiking experience. You will learn later that one of us had to be emergency air lifted off of the Moanalua trail.

The beginning of the trail is very easy, you head down a paved path through the woods and it seems very simple. My buddy joked with me “thanks for taking me on another one of your dad hikes”. Little did he know by the end, he would be in grave danger.

We hiked for around 40 minutes and the path turned from concrete to gravel then to large rocks. There were beautiful streams scattered all over the place, and we took loads of pictures. For most people, this is where you should stop and turn around. After that it started to get muddy and a little more difficult.

We met some hunters on the trail that were skinning a wild boar and they told us about the secret paths that lead to cool locations in the valley. A lot of hikers get lost on these paths as there are no signs indicating where the exit is.

Hiking the Moanalua Valley trail to the Haiku Stairs Ultimate Guide and Warnings

How To Get to The Haiku stairs from the Moanalua Trail

To get to the haiku stairs you will have to get to the power station after the open valley area and cross the stream in from of you. When you cross the stream, you will start seeing ribbons on the trees. You need to follow the red ribbons. It will be muddy and slippery, there are no good signs telling you the direction you need to go. The path will give you an option to go left or right. Take the path to the left, it is smaller and may look like the wrong way. Trust me, this is the route you need to take.If you take the other path, you will go deeper into the woods and it will not lead you to the stairway to heaven. You will hike this trail until it opens up again with huge trees. When this happens you will have to follow the ribbons on the small trees and you will be taken up hill, you will be climbing the mountain starting at this point. There are some ropes in areas that are hard to climb, pul yourself up. Do not try to use the bushes as leverage as they are really weak and will rip out. Try to hang on to the bigger tree branches, this will help you be secure. The higher up you go, the sketchier and more dangerous the trail will become.

You are going to start to second guess your decision to go up at this point, and rightfully so. It is scary. I got up to the top of the mountain at this point with my buddy Jason.  We took some epic pictures from the top of the beautiful valley around us and the mountain ranges. At this point I felt I had achieved all I needed, I was around 3.5 hours into the hike and I started to think about what would happen to my kids if I fell. The path is so thin and there are drop-offs that go straight down on both sides of me. The path is around a foot wide and it is windy up there. I found out later that hikers die every month from falling of the edges. It started to pour rain on us and we toughed it out for a while in the rain.

When should I stop Hiking the Haiku stairs?

When the rain stopped I told Jason that I was going back, he wanted to continue the hike to the Haiku stairs. I took off and headed down the mountain, it was treacherous going down because the ground was soupy slippery. I fell at one point and luckily grabbed onto a tree, I was making sure that I was close to the ground so the fall wasn’t bad.

When I got back down, I wanted to get through the hike a little faster as I was running low on water. I started to run on the path, this was a big mistake. I was by myself in the middle of nowhere and I twisted my ankle. Thank god it was not that bad and I was able to get back to Waikiki safely. I had tried to call my wife and let her know I was Ok, but there was no reception for the entire hike.

When I got back to Waikiki I got a disturbing text message from Jason. He said that he lost his water bottle and he was extremely dehydrated. At this point we were separated for over 3 hours! His wife was freaking out worried about his safety, and we could tell by his message that he was scared. In his mind, there was no way he could complete the long hike back from the Haiku stairs.

Moanalua Trail to Haiku stairs. Oahu hiking

Can you die on the Haiku Stairs hike?

Jason made a rash decision at this point that he should have never done. He could see the highway below from where he was at the top of the mountain, and decided to try to scale down the side of the mountain. It is a major drop downward, but he was scared and decided to go for it. Jason had 1 bar of reception on his iPhone 11. At some point on the side of the mountain there was a 40 ft drop down, he could not go down further. He attempted to scale up, but everything was wet and his muscles were starting to seize up. Dehydration had taken over.

Jason called us and asked us to call the emergency department. I called 911 and they dispatched me to the fire department, we were shitting our pants. It really felt helpless, he explained to us he was holding onto trees in order to not fall off the cliff below. The emergency department was prompt and he was air lifted out after about 2 hrs or so. They had to find him in the brush, and it took a while. His iPhone location services and good battery life was what saved him.

Jason was taken to a hospital where they pumped IV into him and forced fed him electrolytes. He was safe and so glad that his life was saved. He learned a hard lesson and it made him think more about his wife and child. This hike is not worth it. He also told me that he saw boulders rocks and even trees falling when he was on the side of the cliff. If you think you are safe at the top, think again.

Read the rest of this article to find out how you can stay safe on the Moanalua trail to the Haiku stairs if you are stubborn and decide to go. There are lots of other blogs on the internet that will tell you other things about the hike. Most of the people that write these have never actually been on the hike. Don’t listen that shit, they are wrong.

How to Get to the Moanalua Valley trail.

If you are coming from Waikiki you will drive west on the H1 highway and exit at Take exit 2 toward Moanalua Valley/Salt Lake/Red Hill. Then Turn right onto Ala Aolani St. From there you follow the street to the end of the road to a small parking lot. The trail head is 50 feet from the parking lot.

Rope at Moanalua Valley trail to Haiku stairs. Dangerous Oahu Hikes

Where to Park at the entrance of the trail?

You can park either at the parking lot at the trail entrance, or in the residential neighbourhood. We had to park in the residential area because the parking lot is really small. Just make sure you pay attention to all of the rules of the area. The people in the neighbourhood are friendly, but they still don’t like people parking illegally. You will get towed.

Can I Enter the Closed gate at the entrance of the Moanalua valley Trail?

Yes you can enter the gate, I wondered about this when I got there as there are no signs that say that you can enter. The gate is to prevent off road vehicles other than licensed hunters from entering with a vehicle.

Scary Haiku stairs Hike Oahu

7 Things You have to Bring On the Moanalua Trail to the Haiku Stairs

1. Lots of water

This hike is very long and it can get hot as there are parts of the hike that have no tree coverage, giving the sun direct hard access to you.

2. Cell Phone

As you can tell by this article, one of us became in danger on the hike and the only way we knew about it and what his location was because of the iPhone location services. He was able to get the responders to him all due to the cell phone being on him. Not to mention the new iPhones take amazing photo’s.

3. Camera

This is a beautiful hike and when you get to the top of the mountain and during the hike you are awarded with beautiful scenery including streams, the valley and all of Waikiki.

4. Lunch and snacks

I took a sandwich with me and some protein bars to make sure I would have enough energy to complete the hike. My buddy that was with me only took a cookie and that was not enough for him. Make sure you take enough food to keep you energized.

5. Backpack

I brought a light backpack that I could easily move around in. This is essential when you go on any hike in Hawaii as you will want your hands free. And be able to store all of your gear easily.

6. Good hiking shoes

Please don’t try to do this trail in flip flops. I saw a couple of people doing this and they are out of their minds. Not only will it be too hard, but it is also extremely dangerous.

7. Light clothing and shorts

You will get hot and sweaty. It is best to bring light clothing that will give you some air flow and can dry fast if it rains.

Beautiful stream In Oahu. Haiku stairs hike

5 Things to see and do on the Moanalua Trail/Haiku stairs hike

1. Epic Photography

You know those instagram photos of couples hiking with their hands out in Hawaii on top of mountains? Those are from the Moanalua trail to Haiku stairs hike. The views are so dramatic throughout the entire hike. From the valley view at the beginning to the mountain views at the top. I call it hikers reward, you hike to the end of a trail and you are usually rewarded with something that very few people ever get to see.

2. Learn to climb

You will learn to watch your footing and use the environment around you to stabilize yourself on this hike.

3. Hunters

At the beginning of the hike, you will notice signs that there could be hunters active throughout the trail. We approached a few of the hunters with their dogs and they had caught a wild boar. They cut it up and skinned it right there in front of us. It was gross, but really neat to see where some of your meat comes from. Hawaiian believe in using all of the animal when they consume. I took a picture of it, but I won’t put it in this article as I don’t want to offend anyone by pictures of it.

4. Become one with nature

While on the hike, I took a lot of deep breathes and went slowly so that I could really take in the environment around me. It helps me to feel grounded and one with nature.

5. Explore Oahus fauna and flora

You will see a lot of wild flower and beautiful plants and trees on this hike. This area gets a lot of rain, so everything grows large and healthy!

View from the top of the Haiku stairs

7 Warnings and Dangers of Hiking the Moanalua Trail to the Haiku stairs

1. It is very slippery

The area gets a lot of rain and you can wipe out anywhere on the trail. You will be walking on roots and rocks that get really slippery when wet. At some points you will be climbing up hill, I fell a few times but was always holding something to keep myself up like a tree or a root.

2. Bring more water than you think you need

When you are in Hawaii, you may feel like it is warm but cool because of the trade winds off of the ocean. It is actually very hot and you will realize that while you are hiking in Moanalua trail. You will sweat a lot, especially when you are going up hill. At the top, there is no shade or tree cover and it will be even hotter. You should bring more water than you think you need. Nothing on this hike is well marked and you can easily get lost in the woods. You can also get injured and end up by yourself for a long period of time. My friend Jason that got lost and stuck on the hike was severely dehydrated when he was rescued. He had to go to the hospital and have 3 bags of IV pumped into him as well as jugs of water.

3. You can fall off

At the top of the mountain by the stairway to heaven, you will be hiking for around 2 miles on top of the mountain. There will be drop offs on both sides of you, and the width of the trail will be 1-2 feet. It is scary, don’t even think of doing this hike if you are scared of heights. My friend that did the hike with me told his parents that you have to be willing to die to do this hike.

4. No cell phone reception

There will be no reception for 95% of this hike. When you get to the peak over the valley facing Honolulu, you may get some reception if you have a really good phone. It is really dangerous, If you are injured at any point during the hike you will not see another person for a long time.

5. You can twist your ankles (uneven ground)

While on the hike I twisted my ankle, the ground on the hike is very uneven as it is wild nature. The problem and my fear for people with this happening is that you may not be able to reach an emergency line for help and you could be stranded alone for a long time. When Jason got stuck on the top of the mountain, he was dehydrated. This led him to make a really bad decision of climbing down the side of the mountain to get down and he got stuck. He could have died.

6. Getting lost

There are different paths going all over the place during the hike. If you stay on the main path at the beginning of the hike you will be fine. But further in, you will not know where to go. There are no good signs and people get lost here all of the time. I still don’t understand why the trails are so poorly marked on Oahu, I think people die here so often partially because of shitty signage.

7. Mud slides

When it rains it pours, and there are mudslides that push rocks and large boulders down the mountain. As much as you would like to do this hike, you need to remember that you are in the wild and not in an amusement park. Tourist often have a false sense of security. You can get hurt here.

Haiku stairs hike

8. Helicopter rescue

There is no other way to get off the top if you can’t hike it other than a helicopter rescue. A helicopter rescue from the Haiku stairs will cost you big money. Somewhere in the 6-7k range.

9. Always changing landscape

The hike will never be exactly the same. Even if you are with a guide it can still be dangerous. Having a guide also gives people a false sense of security, you can still fall off and get injured. Their little companies will bankrupt before they aver pay out and they will definitely not have insurance.

What you need to do if you get injured on the Moanalua trail or Haiku stairs hike in Honolulu, Oahu.

If you get injured on any trail On Oahu you will have to call 911. 911 will forward you to the fire department. They are the emergency response for this type of emergency. When we had to call 911 when my buddy was stuck on the trail it took them around 1.5 hrs to find him by helicopter.

What number can I call if I get stuck on a mountain hike on Oahu?

Call 911 I was also given another number 808-478-7870

Is the Moanalua trail dangerous?

The Moanalua trail to the Haiku stairs is a very dangerous hike. I would suggest not doing the hike if you really care about your life. There are steep falls and it is extremely long. No cellphone reception and high risk of injury makes this a very dangerous hike. Possibly the most dangerous hike on Oahu.

Should I hike to the stairway to heaven/Haiku stairs from Moanalua trail?

No you should not hike from the Moanalua trail to the Haiku stairs. It is so dangerous that it should be closed to the public.

Are the Haiku Stairs the same as the stairway to heaven?

Yes, the Haiku stairs are nicknamed the stairway to heaven. Instagram made this name popular because at some angles it looks like the stairs lead right into the sky. The Haiku stairs are glorified online, but are not actually that awesome when you get there.

Is it Illegal to climb the Haiku stairs/stairway to heaven in Honolulu, Oahu? How to legally hike the stairway to heaven in Hawaii

It is illegal to climb the Haiku stairs, however if you get to them from the Moanalua Valley trail you can access it. You cannot exit the Haiku stairs or you will get a huge fine, you have to hike back the treaturous Moanalua trail.

Is it legal to go on the stairs if I hike from the Moanalua trail? Is the stairway to heaven legal?

Yes it is legal to go on the stairs, however you cannot exit the trail form the stairs. It leads to a residential neighbourhood and there will be a guard there giving out tickets.

How Long does it take to Hike from the Moanalua Valley trail in Honolulu to the Haiku stairs (stairway to heaven)?

It takes 10 hours roundtrip at a really good pace. And that is if you don’t get lost The trail is not well marked and there is only one path that will lead you up to the Haiku stairs.

Can you get lost on the Moanalua trail to the Haiku stairs?

It is really easy to get lost on the Moanalua trail. There are paths everywhere that will lead to more paths.These are mostly for the hunters, but curious tourist always go in these trails and get lost.

Why are the Haiku stairs closed (stairway to heaven)?

There is a land dispute that has been going on for years  with the adjacent property at the Haiku stairs. They have been closed to the public for years.

How do Instagram models take pictures on the Haiku stairs in Hawaii?

The only way the instagram models get on the Haiku stairs is either with special permission or  by taking the fine. Either way for them it may be worth it as this is a highly searched topic and the pictures you will get out of this hike are unreal.

Have people died on the Moanalua trail to the Haiku stairs?

Many people have died on this trail. Every month people die and others are emergency air lifted out of the area. Those are the ones we know of, others may disappear out there and are never found.

How long is the Moanalua valley trail?

The entire trail to the Hook stairs (stairway to heaven) is 10 hrs round trip.

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The Rampersauds at Ko Olina Beach in Oahu, Hawaii