Stairway to heaven

If anyone navigates to trailhead from this, I parked about 1-200m back from where the pin is in front of a wall bordering a farm (you can see it with my car in one of the photos). I have an SUV with AWD and it was an easy last 1-2k off-road. I saw a normal saloon slightly further back from me too which got most of the way, so without AWD/4x4 you can just park slightly further back.

Finding the start itself isn’t super obvious. Aim for the first waypoint by walking towards the right up the valley from the parking, and you’ll see what looks like a field of rubble. If you look closely you’ll see some little piles of stone on top of rocks marking the way. After about 200m you will start to see official route markings.

I found this route tough (it was also quite hot when I did it). It is not dangerous because it’s well marked and has steps and handrails on the exposed parts, but you are almost constantly walking on rubble / broken lumps of rock, which means there’s rarely a section where you can walk without looking down to pick your steps. This meant going down was slower and harder than I expected. 11.5km isn’t that far, but it feels like a ‘long’ 11.5 because of the vertical gained (over 1000m) and the terrain. However if you are reasonably fit it’s perfectly doable with enough water (I took 3L but would take a little more next time), snacks and sunscreen. I’d also recommend having good hiking shoes / boots that can take a bit of punishment.

I left the car park at sunrise (6am) and was in the shade until about 8, then in the sun most of the time from then on. So make sure to have a hat and good sunscreen, and make use of the rest stops with shade along the way (or the wall sections in the shade).

Overall I enjoyed this route and there were some great views up high, but I was expecting a bit more excitement and exposure for the amount of effort, as the stairway sections aren’t that much as a percentage of the whole.