The Giant Stairway
The Giant Stairway
4.5
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- sccrref1,657 contributionsDo if have the timeIf you are in decent shape you can manage this. Im 65 and my friend is 71. It's very cool to be able to walk from Echo Point to the valley and then back passing by the 3 sisters. We did it near sunset so coming up we had very cool views as the sun started to set.Visited August 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 9 October 2023
- boymomdfwDallas, Texas2,462 contributionsGreat hikeWould recommend going down the giant staircase instead of up. We went when it was raining some. So it was slippery and there were lots of leeches. Check your shoes and legs! It still was a good hike although we couldn't see much with the fog.Visited March 2024Travelled with familyWritten 22 March 2024
- CarloHelmondHelmond, The Netherlands725 contributionsGreat hikeIf you are looking for a bit of a challenging hike this might be a nice one. We walked down and then take the train up again. Before you leave check with a ranger if the trails are open. They might be closed due to rain and/or landslides. When it is damp the stairs can be slippery, especially the rocks part. the stairs are uneven so keep that in mind. Take you time going down. there are about a 1000 steps. But it is a nice experience. During the warmer periods make sure you bring enough to drinkVisited July 2024Travelled with familyWritten 15 August 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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4.5
630 reviews
Excellent
382
Very good
195
Average
44
Poor
8
Terrible
1
Mary
1 contribution
Jan 2023 • Friends
I love this walk but beware! Has been somewhat ruined by the greed of the company who runs the cable cars that take you out of the valley.
The views are great and it’s a lovely track, but at the end down in the valley it’s minimum $55 per person for the cable car back up, or else you have to walk all the way back and walk back up the 900-odd steep steps. Have seen people in a really bad way attempting this if they’re not prepared as it’s a very steep walk.
Scenic world is a huge ripoff, especially since they’ve abolished their one-way/single tickets and upped their prices. They’ve got a captive audience and are exploiting it to the max, with no warnings on the way down about the price of the ticket and a sales pitch that heavily leans on ‘rides’. There are no ‘rides’, only two different large cable cars, a small railway and a boardwalk. The cable cars also don’t come that often so you get stuck in several long queues. Shame they’ve tarnished the beauty of this walk.
The views are great and it’s a lovely track, but at the end down in the valley it’s minimum $55 per person for the cable car back up, or else you have to walk all the way back and walk back up the 900-odd steep steps. Have seen people in a really bad way attempting this if they’re not prepared as it’s a very steep walk.
Scenic world is a huge ripoff, especially since they’ve abolished their one-way/single tickets and upped their prices. They’ve got a captive audience and are exploiting it to the max, with no warnings on the way down about the price of the ticket and a sales pitch that heavily leans on ‘rides’. There are no ‘rides’, only two different large cable cars, a small railway and a boardwalk. The cable cars also don’t come that often so you get stuck in several long queues. Shame they’ve tarnished the beauty of this walk.
Written 10 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Audrey
Singapore, Singapore16 contributions
Oct 2022 • Solo
We did not do as much research it seems and accidentally stumbled upon these stairways. It was actually pretty steep and some of the stairs are actually carved from the mountain itself.
We saw some kids and even moms carrying their babies on the back, and a local told us that she could climb these stairways in 25 mins. It took us almost 1.5 hours as we were behind these moms carrying their babies and took our time. I wore sport shoes and actually almost slip 2-3 times (for reference I am in my early 30s and while I rarely hike or do much outdoor activities, I’m an active gym go-er).
Would highly recommend if you have the time and if you are fit/enjoy difficult hikes.
We saw some kids and even moms carrying their babies on the back, and a local told us that she could climb these stairways in 25 mins. It took us almost 1.5 hours as we were behind these moms carrying their babies and took our time. I wore sport shoes and actually almost slip 2-3 times (for reference I am in my early 30s and while I rarely hike or do much outdoor activities, I’m an active gym go-er).
Would highly recommend if you have the time and if you are fit/enjoy difficult hikes.
Written 31 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What We Found Travelling
Sydney, Australia6,738 contributions
June 2020 • Solo
Taking the stairway down to the honeymoon bridge to the first Sister is exhilarating. Brilliant photo opportunities to be made. You just need luck with the crowds, as it is a slow process down & back up. The stairway is very steep but quite solid & of steel construction.
Written 11 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
sccrref
Tucson,Az1,657 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
If you are in decent shape you can manage this. Im 65 and my friend is 71. It's very cool to be able to walk from Echo Point to the valley and then back passing by the 3 sisters. We did it near sunset so coming up we had very cool views as the sun started to set.
Written 9 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CarloHelmond
Helmond, The Netherlands725 contributions
July 2024 • Family
If you are looking for a bit of a challenging hike this might be a nice one. We walked down and then take the train up again. Before you leave check with a ranger if the trails are open. They might be closed due to rain and/or landslides. When it is damp the stairs can be slippery, especially the rocks part. the stairs are uneven so keep that in mind. Take you time going down. there are about a 1000 steps. But it is a nice experience. During the warmer periods make sure you bring enough to drink
Written 15 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gladys S
Sydney, Australia31 contributions
Oct 2020
Easy access with good safety facilities for all ages.
Easy going downhill and a bit hard the uphill climb but taking time and pausing it was worthy to do the walk to the bridge.
Good looking mountains and bush with fantastic views.
Easy going downhill and a bit hard the uphill climb but taking time and pausing it was worthy to do the walk to the bridge.
Good looking mountains and bush with fantastic views.
Written 7 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ChrissieWilliams81
Wyong Creek, Australia1,142 contributions
Oct 2020 • Couples
We descended these steps to do a valley floor loop.
Very steep and narrow with lots of ladders. You can go up or down the staircase, but I’d recommend down. Still a great workout.
Be careful in rock fall areas.
Very steep and narrow with lots of ladders. You can go up or down the staircase, but I’d recommend down. Still a great workout.
Be careful in rock fall areas.
Written 10 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
boymomdfw
Dallas, TX2,462 contributions
Mar 2024 • Family
Would recommend going down the giant staircase instead of up. We went when it was raining some. So it was slippery and there were lots of leeches. Check your shoes and legs! It still was a good hike although we couldn't see much with the fog.
Written 22 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
earthflute
Cremorne, Australia52 contributions
Oct 2020 • Friends
Giant is right. Very steep in most areas.
If you have kids be warned they will whinge.. saw and heard them on the way down!
Great start to walk along valley floor around to Furber Stairs and back. About 2to3 hours.
If you have kids be warned they will whinge.. saw and heard them on the way down!
Great start to walk along valley floor around to Furber Stairs and back. About 2to3 hours.
Written 5 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mairwen1
United Kingdom11,272 contributions
Sept 2022
This historic walk takes you down into the valley and right up close to the first of the famous Three Sisters. It’s a brilliant thing to do although it takes a bit of stamina. It’s very, very steep - steep enough to give you ‘jelly legs’.
Altogether there are 998 stairs, which is an awful lot of stairs.
Some are roughly hewn stone steps, others are metal, open grid style steps.
The most confronting part is the last section leading down to the Three Sisters. The staircase here is narrow and ladder-like. There are metal safety railings but even so, it feels a little hairy.
Only one person at a time can go up or down because there’s not enough space for two people to pass each other.
There’s a point where you look straight down, you feel as if there is very little between you and the deep valley in front of you.
If you don’t like heights, you’d probably find it very uncomfortable. The lady in front of me was baulking at going down and only kept inching her way down because her kids were pleading with her to continue.
In the past you could cross Honeymoon Bridge and walk right onto the first sister. You had to take a deep breath to venture across the bridge but it was quite spectacular.
However this time, the bridge was was closed due to the risk of rockfalls. This looked more like a permanent closure than a temporary one.
We didn’t go any further than the Three Sisters. Had we continued on, we would have descended more than 300m into Jamison Valley. I have done this some years ago and caught the historic Scenic Railway back up but we were there late in the afternoon and the last train leaves around 4pm (it is worth checking the timing of the train).
Altogether there are 998 stairs, which is an awful lot of stairs.
Some are roughly hewn stone steps, others are metal, open grid style steps.
The most confronting part is the last section leading down to the Three Sisters. The staircase here is narrow and ladder-like. There are metal safety railings but even so, it feels a little hairy.
Only one person at a time can go up or down because there’s not enough space for two people to pass each other.
There’s a point where you look straight down, you feel as if there is very little between you and the deep valley in front of you.
If you don’t like heights, you’d probably find it very uncomfortable. The lady in front of me was baulking at going down and only kept inching her way down because her kids were pleading with her to continue.
In the past you could cross Honeymoon Bridge and walk right onto the first sister. You had to take a deep breath to venture across the bridge but it was quite spectacular.
However this time, the bridge was was closed due to the risk of rockfalls. This looked more like a permanent closure than a temporary one.
We didn’t go any further than the Three Sisters. Had we continued on, we would have descended more than 300m into Jamison Valley. I have done this some years ago and caught the historic Scenic Railway back up but we were there late in the afternoon and the last train leaves around 4pm (it is worth checking the timing of the train).
Written 17 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If I want to go down the steps, take the walk to scenic world, and the train back up ... where should I park?
Written 1 October 2018
Echo Point is definitely the place to park, you can either walk back around the rim after after catching the Scenic Rail up (about half an hour easy walk) or catch the Skyway across then walk. Last option is catch the regular shuttle bus around. Enjoy the and walk our kids 9 & 11 didn't complain too much.
Written 2 October 2018
Hi, rebecca. What would you like to know about this attraction? How long did that walk take you?
Written 21 December 2017
The walk takes about an hour and a half.
Written 1 October 2018
Hi would like to attempt the stairway this weekend. Would i be able to ascend the stairway and then take the scenic railway? -and exit the area via scenic world?
Written 16 July 2015
cromansydney
21,798 contributions
If you mean to descend via the giant stairway, yes you can do that and take scenic railway back up to the scenic world. You will need to walk from when you get to the bottom to the scenic railway for probably 1 hour, or even a bit more.
Written 17 July 2015
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