Everyone has heard of Stairway to Heaven, but very few have heard of Stairway to Hell. These stairs were built on the ridge line on the other side of the H3 from Heaven and have deteriorated much faster and has insane overgrowth likely from lack of foot traffic. We’ve been to hell and back two times now and can say with confidence, you have to be a real masochist to want to do this one. Both times were pretty brutal. The first, we made the mistake of hiking down the stairs while leaving our bags (with water at the top). Almost got heat exhaustion and barely made it down. The second time we went a different route that was quicker but required a bit more "free climbing" crumbly rock faces that were a little sketchier than I would ever want to do again.....On the bright side, literally nobody knows about this one so you won't run into a soul the entire time you're up there and the views are absolutely insane. So if you are gnarly and looking for a real challenge, I would STILL recommend this hike. Fond memories in hindsight, basically torture in the moment haha.
There are several ways to get there, however from our experience, the Aiea Ridge is the way to go. It is a bit longer, but safer allowing you to move quicker. There is no All Trails link that shows the full route, however once you get to the top of Aiea Ridge, you just go right on the KST ridge line for 2 more miles to reach the stairs. If you do decide to do this one, we strongly recommend doing this one with a guide (our buddy is super legit and is who we'd rely on), packing twice as much water as you think you need, and doing as much of the trail before sunrise as possible. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS HIKE.
Most every epic hike in Oahu is steep as hell. Stairway to Hell is no exception. If you're going during the warmer half of the year, you're going to want to get to the top by at least 9am. Hiking up steep terrain with little to no tree coverage is brutal. So like we mentioned before, the best way to do this one is before the sun rises when it's nice and cool on the hike up. You also get way cooler cloud formations in the morning which typically burn off as the sun rises. If you decide to go down the stairs, bring water. Traversing these stairs is exhausting with the overgrowth. There are also super sketchy stretches of the stairs, so always be sure your next step is stable. These stairs haven't been maintained in probably decades likely, so always assume that they aren't stable rather than visa versa. TBH the stairs don't get any cooler about halfway down and only get more and more overgrown, so once the overgrowth starts getting really thick, we recommend just turning around and heading back up.
Stairway to Hell is ONLY for elite hikers. This one will hurt. If you are up for the challenge, don't be an idiot and take this hike lightly. Heli pickups from the top of the mountain are not cheap, so pack 2x more water than you think you need. Start as early as you possibly can and avoid the summer months. Once you are up there, you are hours of hiking away from reaching any sort of civilization. I can speak from experience that hiking 5hrs down with heat exhaustion is one of the least fun things I have EVER done. If you are afraid of heights, there are maybe a hundred stretches where you can fall to your death......But if not, and all this sounds fun to you, good luck. You'll be in extremely limited company if you complete this one unscathed.