Jacob's Stairway

"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven." - Genesis 28:12

Difficulty - ✹✹✹✹ (out of 5)

Scenic Beauty - ✰✰✰✰✰ (out of 5)

Directions - click here

Wow.  What else can I say?  This is a place I had heard of for quite awhile but since info on it was relatively hard to find I didn't really know what to expect.  Maybe we just hit it at the right time but I was blown away by this place.   It can be found north of Hector off White Oak Mountain Road and keep in mind that the directions link above only takes you to where White Oak Mountain Road veers off hwy 27.  From there, you go approximately 12 miles on this relatively well maintained gravel road.   Keep going until you see a white signpost (picture below) and at that point keep to the left fork in the road (toward new hope cemetary).   Keep going until you get to county road FR-1307 and turn right.  Immediately preceding 1307 you'll encounter FR-1305.  The signs labeling these roads are very small and you'll be tempted to turn on 1305 but keep going until you get to 1307 and turn right (this is approximately 12 miles after having turned off hwy 27).  Go approximately 5.1 miles down 1307 and you'll see a small jeep trail on your left going up a small hill.  About 200 yards down the jeep trail there will be a small clearing.  Park here to begin your hike.  

Inside Info - From the parking area you'll see an old logging road.  Follow this for a couple hundred yards and if you look to your left you'll be able to detect a hollow/ravine in the distance.  Veer off the road/trail and head toward the ravine.  Follow it to the bottom and you'll see a creek/runoff.  Follow the creek until you get to the stairway.   The creek is fantastic when the water is flowing well and I bet there were at least 50 small waterfalls we saw along the way.   It has a little bit of everything from gently sloping cascades to full-fledged waterfalls, bluffs and just overall outstanding scenic beauty.  The creek was a bit tricky to navigate as we had to backtrack a few times to find alternate crossing routes once we encountered a small bluff or other impediments to our hike.  The hike from the logging trail to the ravine was littered with briar bushes and I imagine that they would be even worse in summertime (our hike was in November).  There were also an unusual amount of large, felled trees with their root balls sticking out of the ground.  It seems like maybe heavy rains had loosened the sloping ground so much that they simply gave way under the strain.  The area known as Jacob's Stairway is fantastic and there was tremendous flow the day we were there.  The only disappointment is that the water runs south to north so any photography is looking directly into the sun so it's really difficult to get truly great pictures in full sunlight unless you camera has filters to deal with those situations but I did the best I could with my Iphone.  All in all this was a fantastic hike but to get the full effect I think you must go in late fall, winter or early spring.  This would likely be a fairly miserable hike in the summertime because the briars would be thicker, water wouldn't be flowing and the threat of snakes and ticks would be severe.  Also, regardless of the time of year I highly recommend that long pants be worn due to the briar issues.  

Final Word - Other than the difficulty of finding this place and the briars, this is a fantastic hike.  There are more waterfalls concentrated in one small area than I've ever seen and the stairway itself is fabulous when the water is flowing well.  One big caution is that I strongly encourage the use of GPS on this hike because the return trip can be confusing and there aren't any noticeable landmarks to guide you on the return trip.  It would be very easy to get turned around and lost if you are not careful.   I can't stress this enough.  Please be sure you have good navigation skills before undertaking this hike.  With that said, I highly recommend this place.  Also my difficulty rating of 4 out of 5 is based more on the difficulty of navigating the hike more than any physical endurance needed.  It's not a strenuous hike; just a bit tricky.  

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Trailhead Pic

(this is the signpost to look for at the fork in the road)

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