Stairway to Heaven???

The guide book I bought said that the satriway was closed. Has it reopened? Has (gasp) anyone (wheeze) done (whack) this???

Stairway to Heaven???

..still off limits...

Stairway to Heaven???

Thanks. I found a bunch of photos of people still climbing up there. Don%26#39;t they get in trouble for that? It is only the base of the mountain leading up tothe trail that is off limits, isn%26#39;t it? Is there some way to get around the off limit area?

It’s still close, but we hope it will be open in the near future. Please DO NOT attempt to sneak on to the stairs. By doing so, violators only are making it more difficult for us to persuade the city to reopen the stairs to the public. Thank you for your understanding.

There are pictures out there, but I don%26#39;t know how current they are. The Stairway to Heaven aka the Haiku Stairs are NOT open.

Here is a link to a site w/current status and info:

http://www.friendsofhaikustairs.org/

As others have said, it is still closed.

About 5-6 years ago it was closed and the steps were rebuilt.

It has taken the past 5 years to haggle over parking, liability issues, etc. Every year for the past 5 years there has been news that it may reopen, but the talks about the issues break off and nothing is done.

Peterkailua, I understand what you are saying about not ';sneaking in';. I%26#39;m not sure I agree with you. What if this goes on for another year? Or two years? Or more?

There is absolutely no reason why it cannot be opened now.

Dusty, It’s very disappointing the stairs are still closed. Please get involved by joining the Friends of Haiku Stairs Organization and lobby the State to have Na Ala Hele (state trail system) manage the stairs and create a state park for parking and trails access. The primary reason the stairs are closed is many of the hikers were trespassing thru neighbors’ homes to get to the trailhead. In order to get all parties to resolve the issues, Friends of Haiku Stairs is asking all residents and visitors to please be patient and refrain from visiting the stairs. Quite possibly if hikers would have followed the advice of Friends of Haiku Stairs, they may have been open by now.

The residents are going to put up opposition forever. And if all it takes is a token opposition once a year, it will never be open.

Five years is long enough.

Perhaps if hikers went in droves to the Stairway to Heaven, then all parties would start (and continue until a solution is reached) talking about opening the climb again.

Whenever I drive by the Stairway, I rarely see anyone climbing it. That is what the residents want and for the past five years their token opposition is all that is necessary to keep it closed.

Every time the city (or county or state) mentions opening the stairway, they are met with a little resistance and the city backs down and does nothing for another year.

I tend to think the liability issue has more to do with keeping it closed than the opposition of the residents in the area. Same thing with Sacred Falls. No reason it can%26#39;t be opened also.

I wasn%26#39;t planning on sneaking in. I just found photos of a group of people standing in front of the no trespassing sign and then photos of them climbing nad I wondered if this was something htat happened a lot. The last thing I need to do is go on vacation and end up in big trouble for trespassing on government property. Hopefully they%26#39;ll open it by NOvember, but if not, maybe by our next trip. It seems like a huge waste of money and time to fix it then have it closed for so long. We have similar problems here with some people. We call them NIMBY%26#39;s - Not In My Back Yard. They want everything, but not where it effects themselves.

The stairway was closed in 1987, and refurbished in 2001-02 at a cost of nearly $900,000.

I agree with Dusty, its a liability issue more than anything. However, if you are driving a rental car you probably don%26#39;t want to visit the stairway....let%26#39;s just say there is a much higher frequency for vandalism and being towed than for a ';local'; vehicle.

At least you don%26#39;t have to worry about being fried by the radiation anymore from the Coast Guard LORAN station that used to be up there.

And, Sacred Falls should definitely be reopened, one of the best, easiest and most scenic hikes on the island. We have snuck into the valley a few times since its closure, and unfortunately parts of the trail are becoming overgrown due to lack of traffic.

Wouldn%26#39;t entering Sacred Falls Park be illegal trespassing?

the bees