This Abandoned Airstrip Atoll Is One Of The Most Remote Places In All Of Hawaii
By Megan Shute|Published June 26, 2019
×
Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
As the most isolated population center on earth, the Hawaiian Islands consist of eight major islands, several small islets and numerous atolls extending approximately 1,500 miles. The majority of these islands are uninhabited and unnamed, or nearly impossible to gain access to — like the private island of Ni’ihau, which is owned by the Robinson family or Kaho’olawe, which was used as a military training ground during WWII and is littered with bomb fragments — but there’s one tiny atoll you might not know about that houses an abandoned airstrip and hundreds upon hundreds of seabirds.
Found way, way off the beaten path, approximately 490 miles west, northwest of Oahu, Tern Island measures in at just 26 acres in size.
After the 1942 Battle of Midway, the United States Navy built a naval air station on Tern Island, enlarging the island to support a 3,300 landing strip.
Later, the United States Coast Guard set up a station here, which was in operation from 1952 to 1979. In 1962, a tsunami wiped out much of the station, and it needed to be rebuilt.
The atoll is maintained by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a field station in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Seabirds abound on Tern Atoll, as evidenced by these images from Google Street view. They’re everywhere — on the sand, in the bushes, overhead, and floating just offshore.
You never know what one might discover in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but I think it's safe to say that Tern Atoll is easily one of the most fascinating.
Have you ever heard about Tern Island or seen these images from Google Street View? Which of Hawaii’s small, uninhabited islands is your favorite? Perhaps it’s Manana Island, a small island nestled off the coast of Oahu’s southwestern coast.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
