Hiking the Ka'iwa Ridge Trail (aka Lanikai Pillboxes)

So I had read online that this was one of the "easiest and most scenic" hikes on Oahu, so I was like, "Great! I'll do this real quick before we hang out at the beach." However, what I didn't plan for was the blazing sun the day we did this. This is not a difficult hike, however, if the sun is out, this will feel much harder than it actually is as you sweat your way up the ridge. We did harder hikes than this in Kauai and we did the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail on Oahu the day before (an 1800 foot elevation gain), yet this hike felt harder than all of those because the sun was beating on us. Definitely bring a full bottle of water, sunscreen, and sunglasses.

You can't park on the street where the trailhead is, so you'll have to find parking along any of the streets by Lanikai Beach. Parking can be tough there, especially on the weekend when lots of people are at the beach. Just keep driving around until you find something. It seemed like parking was allowed one one side of the street on most of the streets (should be obvious - it's whichever side of the street has a lot of cars parked on it). We parked right on Mokulua Drive and walked to the trailhead, but there were people parked all over Aalapapa Drive and all the streets that connect those two streets as well.

To get to the trailhead, walk up Kaelepulu Drive and then turn left at the first place you can. You'll see signs (in the pictures above) marking the trailhead. There will be a fence along your right side, and the trail starts with a steep climb over some rocks and mud... and continues to be a steep climb over rocks on mud. The good news is, you're on an exposed ridge so the views are beautiful the whole time. Lanikai Beach looks like an actual dream from up here - If you're not from Hawaii or a beautiful island, you only see water this blue in magazines.

The trail is well marked but be careful on it as you are on a narrow ridge and it's a long fall if you go too close to the edge. We saw people up here with their young kids but I don't know if I would bring little kids or dogs up here just because of the nature of the ridge. There are several spots where you have to climb up some steep rocks (on two feet, not hand over hand, but it is steep) and it would be easy to slip and fall.

There are 2 pillboxes (military guard posts) on this trail. The second one is higher than the first, but you'll see people sitting on and around both. It's worth going to the second one to get a great view of Waimanalo beach to the east.

Total distance: About 1 mile (my Fitbit said 1.2)

Total time: About an hour, including time spent sitting and taking pictures on one of the pillboxes