Oahu Got Trails: Hiking at Diamond Head Park

View south on Diamond Head Lighthouse

Date: January 28, 2020

Place: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Coordinates: 21.263565, -157.805254

Length: 1.9 miles

Level: moderate

On January 2020, 6 weeks BC (Before COVID) I went to Hawaii on a trip with two awesome friends in celebration of our birthdays, a trip that was orchestrated by Pappa Quail who stayed at home to care for the chikas. Hawaii has several islands, only five of them are significantly populated and only four are serious tourists attractions. On this trip we decided to focus on three islands only, We started on Hawai'i the Big Island where we stayed the longest, from there we continued to Maui, which was a first time island for me too, and lastly, we came to Oahu, to add some different experience of Hawaii to our trip. In Oahu we stayed in Honolulu and did mainly touristy stuff, but we did dedicate some time to hiking as well, and the trail I liked most is one that's very close to Honolulu and that's the trail of Diamond Head. This volcanic butte isn't only a pretty nature area but it is also an historic site, having been one of the air defense bases before and during the second world war. After visiting Pearl Harbor once and before our next scheduled visit there it seemed a good idea to check out Diamond Head Park. 

Diamond Head

The first thing that captured my eyes when we parked were the little blue-billed ground doves that wandered all over the parking lot. They were as nonchalant around people as the pigeons in European cities. 

Zebra Dove

The parking lot area was nicely landscaped with beautiful planted trees, some of which were blooming. I didn't mind that the trees may not have been native Hawaiians, to me they were all new.

Kerosene Tree, Cordia subcordata

The summit trail in Diamond Head Park leads to the bunker at the top and its all paved and railed and very easy to follow. That said, the elevation change is of about 450 ft, a descent workout.

Our hike s captured by my GPS

As soon as we left the parking lot area and started up the trail the vegetation assumed a more natural and less landscaped look. Many of the plants now growing in Hawaii however, were introduced either a few hundred years ago by the Polynesians, or more recently by the western visitors and settlers.

It is the same story for the birds in Hawaii. Many of the birds we saw on that trip were also of introduced species. Still, for me they were all new.

Red-vented Bulbul

The first part of the trail is flat. The parking lot is already inside the wide old crater of Diamond Head and the bottom part of the trail merely crosses it to the southwestern side of the rim.

Diamond Head

Unlike Kilauea Iki, which is a recent crater in a young volcano, All of Oahu's volcanos, including Diamond Head are old and dead. Dead in a geological sense meaning they'll never erupt again. Biologically though, they are very much alive, and Diamond Head too is covered in vegetation. I recognized there some of the native Hawaiian plants that I first saw in the Big Island. 

Yellow 'Ilima, Sida fallax

The lower part of Summit Trail goes along the inside of the rim at a reasonably mild slope with only an occasional turn or a stair. 

The Rim

About half way up the rim the trail became much steeper with added stairs. Some of the stairs and walkways were not on the rocks but built from metal and attached to the rocks. View platforms extended away from the rim rocks and we stepped on one of them to take a breather and to admire the view. From this height it was easy to see the large ring of the crater. Diamond Head is a single-eruption volcano and its crated is a perfect circle.

The Crater

A good part of the trail is carved in the rocks however,or at least cemented on it. Plants were growing in the cracks between the rocks and some were blooming too.

Red Tasselflower, Emilia fosbergii 

Eventually we got high enough to see over the rim. To the north at first - the view was of the green hills, some already covered with the northeastern neighborhoods (or suburbs?) of Honolulu. We also noticed the thick blanket of clouds that hung over those hills and wondered if the clouds would move over our way. 

View North

We reached the bunker and entered it through an access tunnel. What amazed me was that this bunker was built before WWII, before the Japan opened war on the USA. 

Bunker Tunnel

Most of the inner spaces and passage ways inside the bunker were not accessible to the public. It was an eerie feeling to walk inside this old, falling apart base. I could imagine the place haunted by past ghosts. 

Bunker Stairwell

Whan of the spaces that was open to us was the room with the observation crack that watched over the bay of Honolulu. 

Battery Room

Web had a great view of the Honolulu coastline from the window crack of that room. There used to be a cannon there too, aimed at any hostile watercraft that might approach the city. 

Honolulu Coastline

Outside the bunker we ascended a flight of stairs to the top of the base where we had an unobstructed view all around. A lighthouse on the south beach, the Diamond Head Lighthouse, caught my attention. The full view image heads this post. 

Diamond Head Lighthouse

From there we also had a nice view of the southeastern shores of Oahu. On the day we hiked at Diamond Head we still had on our plans to go snorkling on one of the eastern beaches of Oahu. As our time on that island progressed it was becoming clear that we won't get there on our current visit. We discovered that the small island of Oahu wasn't all that small after all, that there was much to see there. 

From the roof of the bunker we also had a much wider view of Honolulu. It was easier to appreciate how big this city really is. 

Honolulu

We stayed at the observation deck on the roof of the bunker for some time, enjoying the grand view and the nice weather. Eventually however, it was time to head down. The upper part of the hike is a loop, where the trail continues on a metal ramp that extended along the crater's rim before curving back down the slope. 

Diamond Head Summit Trail

The vegetation was thicker on this part of the trail. Small trees and larger bushes grew through the gaps between the metal rails, some even growing through the metal mesh walkway.

White Leadtree, Leucaena leucocephala

The constructed metal walkway connected back to the cemented trail on the rim rock. We continued the way down on a long switchbacks section. I was fortunate to take a photo of this part of the trail with very few people on it, considering how many visitors were at the park at the time. 

Diamond Head Summit Trail

On the way down I looked at some other plants that I've missed on the way up. I must have missed many because my main focus was on having a good time with my friends. 

Sleepy Morning, Waltheria indica

Back at the bottom of the crater we had a leisurely walk back and I had more time and patience to look at the local birds. 

Common Waxbill

It was a beautiful afternoon, and we took our time walking back to the parking lot. Oahu was the last Hawaiian island on our trip and we knew that our unique vacation was nearing its end. In the news the was already talk about that virus that was dropping people left and right in China, but here it still felt like a far away thing, nothing of our immediate concern. We just wanted this beautiful moment to extend.

Diamond Head Summit Trail

 

This hike also wraps up the Hawaiian hikes on my blog, at least until I'll visit there again, who knows when.

Mile-a-minute Vine, Ipomoea cairica

Because I did much hiking and travel and very little writing in 2020 and even less writing in 2021 there's a lot of catching up I need to do. The trip to Hawaii was the last travel I did before the pandemic descended and changed everything world wide. Going back and looking at the photos I took on that trip, remembering what we've seen and the good time we had together before the game changed gives me both pleasure and much sadness.

Later that afternoon we marked another 'check' on our wish list in Oahu, and spend a beautiful afternoon and evening at Wikiki Beach. Our hiking in Oahu was done and our trip was drawing to its end. It was well worth it, a time I'd always cherish in my memory. 

In the water at Wikiki Beach