Hawaii’s Stairway to Heaven, on the island of Oahu, has become one of the main tourist attractions in Honolulu, despite being closed to the public and extremely dangerous. However, the effort rewards the bravest visitors with unique views, as it is a route that crosses several mountains on the ocean island. Its English name, “Stairway to Heaven,” does not disappoint: halfway up, the rest of the stretch seems to vanish into the dawn mist, and you don’t know if the stairs will end in heaven itself or in the clouds.

What is Hawaii’s Stairway to Heaven?

The history of one of the world’s most impressive trails began during World War II. The United States hired a company in 1942 to build a radio station in the Oahu mountains. This radio station would be secret and would serve the U.S. military to communicate with its fleet, which at that time was conducting maneuvers in the Pacific. Workers built a wooden staircase path in the mountains to facilitate access to the new army base. Later, these stairs would fall into oblivion since, once the construction of the base was completed, workers preferred to take a cable car to their work station. In those years, some sections were rebuilt with metal.

After the end of World War II, the place was used as a navigation system. Finally, in 1987, Hawaii ended activities in the building, as well as the route that led to it. That was not an obstacle for tourists and locals who turned a deaf ear to the prohibitions in their desire to walk this path.

In 2003, the 3,922 steps were repaired by the Honolulu City Council. However, since that year, no work has been carried out on the trail, despite the fact that in 2015, after a strong storm, part of the steps disappeared. This explains the level of difficulty of the terrain: if you make the journey in the early morning (recommended time), you will be exposed to visibility problems, and one wrong step could mean your fall off a cliff.

The city of Hawaii continues to debate whether it would be appropriate to open the stairs to the public. Their only fear is to face lawsuits from people who may suffer accidents at the site.

A Major Tourist Attraction, Despite Being Closed to the Public

The route has been closed to the public for three decades, but still, dozens of visitors jump the fences every day to enter these fascinating landscapes. There are several problems to get to the place:

• Neighbors are against it. They don’t want tourists parking on their streets and have managed to get the city to put up “No Parking” signs on their streets, so getting to the place by car is not easy. There is also the possibility that neighbors will call the police.

• There is a security guard in charge of guarding the entrances to the trail. However, it seems that these guards are used to dealing with passersby daily, because as I have read in several blogs, all they do is ask people to leave the place. Then, you can try to enter through another gate.

• The police. If the police finally “catch” you at the place, then they will summon you to go to court. Few people have had this happen, but normally if you fall into the clutches of a policeman, you will end up paying a fine of about $1,000.

How to Get to the Stairway to Heaven

If despite all this information, you still want to enter the Stairway to Heaven in Hawaii, there are several websites, including Yelp, where you can see tips from other visitors on how to get there and avoid getting caught.

The most recommended thing is to start early in the morning, around 5 AM, with a flashlight. Even so, remember that this is an activity with a high risk. It is usually cloudy at those hours of the morning, and it is difficult to recognize the path ahead. Also, several steps have succumbed to storms. One wrong step could be a real danger.

There are also several locals who offer to take tourists in exchange for an upfront payment, of course. But these guides are not official, and they will not be responsible for anything that may happen during the tour.

Despite all these negative points, it must be recognized that the images that the Stairway to Heaven leaves are more than tempting, even for souls with an absolute sense of responsibility. Do you dare?

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