How To Get The Ladder In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

When you first start a new island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there will be some areas you won't be able to get to right away. Once you get the vaulting pole from Blathers and can make your way across rivers, the last frontier is the land atop your cliffs. To scale both levels of these cliffs, you'll need a ladder. Here's when and how to get it.

How To Get The Ladder

You'll have to complete a few other tasks on your island before you can get the ladder, and the earliest you can get it is the third day you've been playing. First, you have to have completed Nook's Cranny; see our full Nook's Cranny unlock guide for the details. We also recommend starting the museum unlock process so you have access to the vaulting pole, as parts of your cliffs may be blocked off by rivers.

On the day Nook's Cranny opens, go to the Resident Services tent. Tom Nook will ask you to select locations for three house plots, and as part of this, he'll give you the ladder DIY recipe.

How To Craft A Ladder

• Requires: 4x wood, 4x hardwood, 4x softwood

You need four wood, four hardwood, and four softwood to craft a ladder. In several weeks of playing, our ladders haven't broken yet, so they're either unbreakable or extremely durable.

How To Use The Ladder

Like most tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the ladder can be equipped from either your inventory pockets or your tool wheel, if you have it. Then, just run up to any cliff (whether you're scaling it or want to climb down) and press A to use it.

Make sure to check out our guide to your first day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for more details on the early unlocks you should get, like the shovel, as well as our guide to making money fast. Be sure to check out our Animal Crossing: New Horizons review, too.