Hiker Dies After Plunging 250 Feet Off Hawaii Trail

HONOLULU, HI — A visiting hiker died Wednesday after falling about 250 feet off the side of a challenging trail on Oahu, officials said.

The Honolulu Fire Department was called around 11 a.m. Wednesday for an injured hiker on the Olomana Trail. The trail is located in Maunawili in Honolulu.

Rescuers arrived at the Maunawili Valley Neighborhood Park about 10 minutes after the 911 caller said a 30-year-old hiker fell off the side of the trail near the third peak.

Rescuers found the hiker and airlifted him to a nearby landing zone. He died at the scene.

The man was hiking with three companions, including a local resident, a fire department spokesman told the Star Advertiser. His name wasn't immediately released.

"It’s incredibly dangerous once you get past the first peak," Shayne Enright, a spokesman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, told SFGATE . "Where the gentleman fell it’s known to be very dangerous. We’ve had other fatalities in this area. It’s steep terrain, it’s narrow and footing is bad.”

Ralph Valentino of Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club told HawaiiNewsNow that the third peak is "totally exposed" for nearly the entirety of the uphill route.

“In other words, if you fell two steps to your right or two steps to your left, you could fall and you may be headed down 100 feet or further before you stopped," Valentino said.

At least five others have reportedly died in falls along the popular trail between 2011 and 2019.

The 4.4-mile out-and-back trail is rated on the popular hiking site AllTrails as a "hard," strenuous hike.

"The last peak (3rd peak) should only be tried by experienced hikers in good shape and requires ropes all the way up," a trail description on the site said.

Firefighters on Sunday rescued a 33-year-old injured hiker who fell about 15 feet from the third peak on the trail. He, too, was airlifted off the peak.

On Jan. 17, a 35-year-old hiker suffered multiple injuries when she fell about 100 feet while hiking the third peak and landed on a treetop. In that case, two civilians traversed the steep terrain downward to reach her and called 911. She was freed, lowered from a tree, and airlifted to the landing zone as well.