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Koko Crater Hiking Still Up In Air

by LORI ARIZUMI
Sun Correspondent
Archived July 2008 article

With one of the main issues of keeping the Koko Crater hiking trail open being maintenance, numerous potential solutions are floating around. There are suggestions to have hikers maintain the trail themselves. Another, proposed at the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board meeting, was to affix rubber strips to the wooden railroad ties for safety and protection of hikers. Petitions are being signed. And, the latest idea was to install a zip-line cable to run the length of the trail.

The contention that safety is also a concern due to proximity to the Koko Head Shooting Range is being addressed by a nine-member committee participating with the city to assist in determining ways to satisfy all parties. Signage is proposed to indicate areas hikers should not enter or wander.

Although not a designated trail, hundreds of hikers and tourists use the tramway on a daily basis. Some really hike for exercise and others venture up the hill to see the outstanding vistas of the valleys, mountains and even neighbor islands. Sentiment is strongly running in favor of solving the dilemma and ensuring the recreational and more serious exercise use of the popular site.