Hawai’s Kolekole Pass: A Closer Look

By Alfred Acenas
Eagle News Service

HONOLULU (Eagle News) – At an elevation of 1,724 feet (525.5 meters), the Kolekole Pass is the most prominent gap along the Waianae Mountain Range in West Oahu.

For decades, movies and TV shows portraying the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor have shown Japanese planes flying through the pass. However, historical accounts actually describe the planes flying alongside the mountain range’s eastern flank to avoid detection by radar as they closed in on their targets.

The Waianae mountains and the Kolekole Pass (center) as seen from a plantation in Central Oahu. (Photo by Des Acenas)

Today, Kolekole Pass is part of the U.S. government’s property at the Schofield Barracks military installation.

The Kolekole Hiking Trail is open from 5:30am to 6:30pm on select weekends when there is no training being conducted.

Hikers must have access to Schofield Barracks, such as being a Department of Defense ID card holder or having a visitor pass in order to access the Kolekole Hiking Trail.

(Eagle News Service)