Hawaiian stairs in America

 Hawaiian stairs in America

Hey, Led Zeppelin, if you’re still looking to buy a stairway to heaven, I think I found one for you. Climbing 3,922 steps up, these winding stairs are located on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii and remain one of the most frequented illegal hikes in the world

The set of stairs, known as the Haiku Stairs, were originally built during World War II as an easy way to traverse up the steep cliffs of the Haiku Valley while constructing radio towers. After the construction of the towers was complete, the stairs didn’t have much use, and ultimately fell into disrepair until around the mid 1950s.

The Coast Guard, hoping to use the island's radio towers to contact submarines, fixed and replaced most of the decaying wooden steps from WWII with new metal steps and ramps. During this time, the stairs remained mostly a secret to hikers and climbers, and it wasn’t until the Coast Guard abandoned their work that the stairs really started taking off as an illegal hiking spot.

Now, we are in no way encouraging you to go and check this out, but if you did you probably want to know that the guards that used to block the entrance haven’t been seen in 2014, and the tent that used to provide shelter for them hasn’t been seen since February 2014. Again, though, that’s something we’d never promote, even if the best time to make this HIGHLY ILLEGAL hike would be mid-July.