Moderate, 7.7 mi out and back, or nature walk

1,302 ft elevation gain

8/24/25

Flickr Album

Named after the song by famed Jersey rockers, the Stairway to Heaven section of the Appalachian Trail begins with an easy boardwalk through marshland, across a wooden suspension bridge, and then up along a stairwell built among a bolder field. A great hike complete, either section could be standalone.

The boardwalk snakes its way out of the trees and into the reeds in the early wetland section of the hike. Still more of a nature path at this point, this area would be great for birding.

A wooden pedestrian suspension bridge, which seemed way over-engineered for the body of water that it crossed, but was still super cool.

The expansive view from the scenic area up top, with a variety of farm and forest land spreading out under partly cloudy skies.

  • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
    5·
    3 days ago

    Oh definitely putting this on my hiking list. Me and the wife want to go back to the Appalachian mountains. Didn’t know they went all the way into New Jersey. But will put this on the list of stops.

    • everydayhiker@lemmy.worldOP
      5·
      3 days ago

      Its a fun one for sure, and a good mix of sights along the way. Stairs get your heart going, but its very forgiving. I’d imagine if you can get the fall leaves change, the view up top would be fantastic (also probably for sunset).

    • falidorn@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 days ago

      Technically they go from Florida into Canada but the trail is ~2.2k miles from Georgia to Maine.