To thousands of people, the outdoors is a wonderful place to hike, camp out and go fishing.
But the outdoors is not a big playground. Injuries even death for people not prepared. The wilderness can be a setting for the weird and paranormal. Odd things can be found in the woods. Relics left behind.
Including stairs. Just stairs. By themselves. Even stairs with a climb up but not down. Not steps in a park or place where they belong. Those steps are part of a trail and are well- maintained.
Why are stairs in the woods creepy?
People have become urbanized. We are no longer familiar with camping and being out on our own. The horror industry centered on rural areas for their movies. The outdoors is often a backdrop for the unknown and unsettling. Stairs in themselves can symbolize a journey of spiritual self or to connect two places of existence.The Bible mentions stairs to connect Heaven and Earth.
There are darker myths.The familiar Don”t walk under a ladder. Or a staircase.
A few mountain trails are named Devil’s Staircase
And back to the stairs in the woods with their dark legends. People have climbed the stairs and never climbed back down. Even vanished at the top. You feel overwhelming anxiety, even panic. Do not look over your shoulder because you feel someone behind you. You lose all track of time.
Relativity (M. C. Escher)
This all started with entries in Reddit. They have a no-sleep category for horror fiction. The characters are Park Service Rangers or people that always hike through the woods, so they know the woods environment. These stories caught on with their own category of Stairs in the Woods.
https://www.reddit.com/r/StairsintheWoods/comments/14t0qdq/stories_masterlist_20/
The stories are fictional but stairs in the woods exist. They are part of foundation homes. Built and left behind by past travelers or homesteaders.
All along the Appalachian Mountains and wild areas of New England are homes completely deserted and reclaimed by the wilderness. What is left is made of stone or concrete. Foundation lines of the former home, and their stone fireplaces and stairways. Strange things have been found in the wilderness.
So, there could be stairs in the woods and stories grow. But these stairs are identified as just being steps.
This photo has become a viral photo.
. Beautiful stone steps from Chesterfield, New Hampshire.
This angle is the most used because it does not show the rest of the stone ruins.
These are the ruins of Madame Sheri’s summer home. Madame Sheri was famous in the days of the 1920’s of a socialite and Broadway costume designer This is her summer home, and you can see the steps. The house gradually fell apart the stones remained.
You will find steps and stairs everywhere in old gardens from Tuscany to South Carolina.
. This is the entrance to an old medieval cemetery outside of Kalingrad, the city of Russia. Timed it perfectly with the sun to make it seem mystical.
This is weird. Steps and bridge in the middle of water. This is Belham Bridge in Scotland.This is a popular beach. There is a current of seawater posing a barrier to beachgoers. You can see it when the tide is out.
This looked Mysterious. But is it?
Merely a series of steps. Double check everything. Trolls use camera angles and editing to make any photo look creepy.
This oddity is still in Roseto Capo Spulico of Italy.
Was meant as an escalator but is now stairs. On a hilltop overlooking a beach. Once planned as a beach resort with a series of escalators to go down to the beach. The deal fell through and only this structure was left.
Another huge staircase in Flanders, Belgium. This is meant as a lookout tower. Labeled the Vlooyberg. Vandals burned the small wooden lookout post. So, this was built a lot tougher
These below are not in the woods but on a beach in Pismo Beach, California. But still Stairs going Nowhere. Originally had a walkway going down to the beach. But whatever they had planned fell through. The wooden planks of the bridge were removed, but the spiral staircase remained. Different angles, same bridge.
These beautiful steps are part of Yarndon Manor in Oxfordshire. They are now part of a historic Site and preserved. Along with most of the Manor.
These are in the woods but not neglected. This is part of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail. In Gloucestershire England, this park has 18 interesting sculptures.
These are not abandoned stairs. We added this because it looks so damn cool. This is from the Devil’s Millhopper Geological Park in Gainesville. Florida. These stairs descend a 120 feet deep sinkhole. The sinkhole has its own rainforest ecosystem!
So, if you see stairs in the woods and if you feel in the mood just climb them. You’ll be fine!
You might get a great view!
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https://patricktillett.blogspot.com/2013/09/spiral-staircase-to-nowhere-california.html
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/devils-millhopper-geological-state-park
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nature/new-hampshire/mysterious-woodland-trail-nh