Lanikai Pillbox Hike: Parking, Hours and Safety

The State’s trail record describes it in four lines: the trail “climbs up the ridge behind Lanikai,” runs through native and introduced coastal plants, “ends at the first WWII bunker,” and “is currently an undeveloped trail and receives minimal maintenance from the State of Hawaii” (Nā Ala Hele). The record lists no difficulty rating. Its hazard list does the talking instead: dangerous cliff, narrow trail, sudden drop-off, uneven surface, dangerous footing and sun exposure.

Our Oahu hikes map rates it Hard for that reason: a 600 ft climb is moderate on paper, but this one gets almost no upkeep. The State publishes no hiking time, so the 50 minutes in the table is ours: Naismith’s rule (3 miles an hour, plus 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet of climb) applied to the State’s 1.68 miles there and back and its 600 feet.

This is the part most visitors get wrong. The State’s directions run through Kailua town, past Kailua Beach Park, onto ʻAʻalapapa Drive and right onto Kaʻelepulu Drive, then stop with a line in capitals: “Do not drive or park beyond this point.” The same record warns that “parking is very limited” and “cars parked illegally will be towed” (Nā Ala Hele).

The City is blunter. Its 2025 Lanikai traffic plan says the hike “is accessed via private property off of Kaʻelepulu Drive” and that “there is no parking available as well as no restrooms or other supportive infrastructure near the embarkation point.” It put up “NO PARKING” signs along Kaʻelepulu Drive, and still reports that “illegal parking persists.” Residents and Mid-Pacific Country Club have noted trespassing, “unauthorized use of facilities” and blocked roads (City DTS). So do not park in Lanikai, on its unpaved shoulders or at the club, and do not use the club’s restrooms.

Park at Kailua Beach Park instead. The City says Lanikai has no public lots, which makes the beach park the nearest legal one. By our routing it is about 0.6 mile, roughly 13 minutes on foot, from the boat ramp lot to the trailhead (OSM). The park’s lots close from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. (City parks), so they are open well before the trail is. From central Waikīkī the drive is about 16 miles and 34 minutes without traffic by our routing (OSRM). Our Kailua Beach Park guide covers the park.

Holidays are stricter. Over Christmas weekend 2025 and New Year’s weekend 2026, the City banned parking from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on “all streets and shoulders of Mokulua and ʻAʻalapapa Drives” and their cross streets (DTS, DTS). Check DTS before a holiday weekend.

By bus: TheBus Route 671, Kailua to Lanikai, stops at ʻAʻalapapa Drive and Kaʻelepulu Drive, about 0.17 mile from the trailhead by our routing. On a weekday such as Wednesday, October 28, it passes that stop 21 times between 6:21 a.m. and 6:51 p.m., 31 to 43 minutes apart (TheBus schedule data, through Dec 5). The City’s plan notes that Routes 66 and 67 connect Kailua with Ala Moana Center, where transfers to the rest of the island are available. Our guide to getting around Oahu covers TheBus.

The City describes the route in one sentence: “the trail begins with a short, steep ascent and follows a meandering path to World War II-era military observation bunkers” (City DTS). DLNR’s version: “an initial steep hike, then a rocky trail, which is narrow at times” (DLNR, 2018).

The State’s record calls the ground “dry, hot, dusty when dry, slippery when wet” and the trail “very steep and slippery,” with a reminder to watch your step “while on the bunkers” too (Nā Ala Hele). It lists no water, shade, restroom or trash can. Bring water, a hat and shoes with real tread; the State’s own trail tip is covered shoes.

Stay on the main path. The record warns that side trails and roads off the public route “may be on private property,” and that using them without the landowner’s approval means “you will be trespassing and possibly putting yourself at risk.” The State’s trail ends at the first bunker. A second, two-tier bunker sits a little farther along the ridge, and DLNR noted in 2018 that fewer hikers go on to it.

• Shoes: closed-toe with grip. The State calls the trail very steep, dusty when dry and slippery when wet.
• Time it: go early. The State calls this a very high use trail, and the ridge has no shade.

DLNR says so itself: “The Lanikai pillboxes are not really pillboxes. The two famed ‘pillboxes’ on the trail are misnamed. In military terms, a pillbox means a defensive site such as a machine gun pillbox. The two concrete structures on Kaʻiwa Ridge were built to be observation stations, not sites for defensive armaments” (DLNR, 2018).

They were coast artillery stations, part of Station Podmore. According to military historian John D. Bennett, quoted by DLNR, they were built in 1943 and “equipped with high-powered telescopes to fix positions of possible enemy ships.” Soldiers inside passed target information to artillery batteries on the Mōkapu Peninsula, and later to batteries at the Kāneʻohe Bay Naval Air Station and Puʻu Papaʻa. The first structure is Station 29A, a single tier; the second, two-tier one holds Stations 29B and 29C.

The roofs you stand on were rebuilt in 2018. The State closed the trail for 60 days that summer for “concrete spall repair, and removal and replacement of rusted steel roof supports,” a $248,228 job, and reopened it on August 20, 2018 (DLNR).

The view is the reason for the climb. DLNR’s description: “stunningly beautiful views of the Mokulua Islands and the entire windward coast of Oahu, from Waimanalo to Mokoliʻi island” (DLNR). Look south and the ridge drops toward Waimānalo Bay and the cliffs running out to Makapuʻu, where the Makapuʻu Lighthouse trail climbs the far point.

The Honolulu Fire Department has posted five rescue releases for this trail so far in 2026, six in 2025 and five in 2024 (HFD). Nearly every one describes a single hiker who was hurt and could not get down alone. On October 16, 2026, a woman in her 50s “sustained an injury and could not continue on her own”; six units and 18 firefighters responded, and the Air 1 helicopter flew her to a landing zone (HFD). On September 1, crews carried a visitor in her 20s with an ankle injury down the trail in a litter basket (HFD).

Hours. The State says “the trail is only open from Sunup to Sundown” (Nā Ala Hele). On October 28, 2026, that is about 6:32 a.m. to 5:57 p.m. in Lanikai by our calculation from NOAA’s solar equations; in late December, about 7:04 a.m. to 5:54 p.m. There is no legal pre-dawn start for sunrise on the bunkers.

Closures. From May 2025 to February 2026 the State closed the trail on a handful of scheduled mornings while crews treated the ridge for little fire ants by drone, with Nā Ala Hele stewards posted at the trailhead (DLNR, 2025). As of October 23, 2026, the State’s record shows the trail open with no announcements. Check it the morning you go.

• Know your limit. HFD’s checklist: water, snacks, a charged phone, a flashlight and a whistle, and hike with a partner (HFD outdoor safety).

The State’s record prohibits alcohol, camping, bicycles, horses, hunting, fishing, ATVs, littering and commercial activity on the trail. Dogs are allowed on a leash; the State asks owners to pick up after them and to “bring extra water for their dogs on this trail,” since there is none (Nā Ala Hele).

The commercial ban is why we do not link a guided Lanikai Pillbox hike, though tour sites sell them. The State’s record lists commercial use as prohibited. If you want a guide in Lanikai, book one on the water instead (below).

There is no reservation or fee today. The City’s 2025 plan floated managed access, such as daily caps for non-residents, but only as a concept (City DTS).

Lanikai is the short hike with the Mokulua view, and the hardest of the short hikes to park for. The others near town trade it for crowds, reservations or stairs. For every trail on the island, see the Oahu hikes map; for the drive that ties Lanikai to the east side, see the east side Oahu drive.

• Pick Lanikai for the Mokulua view, and only if you can walk in from the beach park or bus.
• Pick Diamond Head for the classic crater view, and book the slot first.
• Pick Makapuʻu for a wide path with a lighthouse at the end.
• Pick Koko Head for a straight-up workout in full sun.