The Treppenstein is a rock formation in the Oker valley in the Harz mountains of central Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It lies on the trail from the Romkerhall Waterfall to the Kästeklippen

Kästeklippen

The Kästeklippen, often shortened to Käste, is a rocky tor above the Oker valley in the Upper Harz mountains of central Germany. It lies at a height of ....

. The rocks consist of granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 and have clearly undergone so-called "wool sack weathering" (Wollsackverwitterung).

The Treppenstein is a popular destination and part of the system of checkpoints (no. 117) in the Harzer Wandernadel

Harzer Wandernadel

The Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...

hiking trail network. The summit has safety railings and may be climbed using steps hacked out of the rock and flights of stairs attached to the rocks. From the summit there is a view towards the west. In addition, part of the rock formation, the Kleine Treppenstein is used for rock climbing

Rock climbing

Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

. The routes

Climbing route

A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and, once committed to that ascent, can be difficult to stop or return. Choice of route can be critically important...

 here are rated as Grade VI (UIAA)

Grade (climbing)

In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...

.