State officials said police have arrested 14 hikers, eight of them this morning, for trespassing after being found on the prohibited Haiku Stairs.
The 14 hikers were arrested by Honolulu police over the past six days, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. All face criminal trespassing charges.
The hikers reached the top of the Kaneohe side of Haiku Stairs, also known as “Stairway to Heaven, ” after climbing the Middle Ridge Trail, which recently reopened on Friday.
DLNR clarified that while it discourages people from hiking the Middle Ridge Trail in the Moanalua Section of the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve, which had been closed since June 12, it is not illegal.
DLNR had itself announced the of the reserve on Friday.
Middle Ridge had been closed since June 12 due to construction activity to dismantle Haiku Stairs, which had been greenlighted but has since been stopped by a temporary injunction.
Due to an order from the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, the city was its $2.6 million demolition job. The contractor was, however, allowed to remove stair modules that had already been detached prior to the court’s order.
The 14 hikers were arrested on City and County of Honolulu property, DLNR said, and not on state lands, but did not specify how this is delineated.
DLNR’s Division of Resources and Conservation Enforcement said the arrested hikers used ropes from the top of the Middle Ridge Trail to get down to the remaining stairs on the side of the Koolaus.
“It is dangerous for people to enter the construction zone and dangerous for them to try to descend the ridge, ” said DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla in a statement. “They need to think about the consequences if someone gets hurt, or worse, and needs rescue.”
He added that it is a difficult place for first responders to reach, which could delay medical treatment.
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