Mount Scenery Trailhead
1,064 stone steps to the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Why Go
Tucked at the edge of Windwardside, an unassuming trailhead sends you straight up into the clouds — a lung-burning stone staircase through elfin cloud forest to the 887 m summit of a dormant volcano, the literal rooftop of the entire Dutch kingdom.
The Experience
You start behind the village on a mossy, hand-laid stone path that quickly turns vertical. The lower slopes are humid tropical forest — heliconia, tree ferns, banana groves, the occasional red-bellied racer snake sliding off the wall. Somewhere around the 500th step you push through the cloud line and the world goes quiet and green: mahogany mountain rainforest gives way to twisted, moss-draped elfin woodland, branches dripping with bromeliads and orchids. On a clear window you can see St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, St. Barths and St. Maarten stacked across the Caribbean; more often you'll be inside the cloud, the trail glowing emerald and the only sound your own breath. It's roughly 90 minutes up, 60 down for most people, and every one of the 1,064 steps is felt in the calves the next morning.
What to Try
Do the full summit push to the old radio tower and cross-shaped clearing, then, if your legs still work, tack on the short spur to the Elfin Forest / Mas Cohones Trail loop for the most otherworldly stretch of mossy woodland on the mountain. Serious hikers can link it with the North Coast Trail on the descent for a proper Saba traverse.
Insider Tip
Start at first light (6:30–7:00 am). Saba's summit is called 'The Cloud' for a reason — by mid-morning it's usually socked in with zero view. Early climbers get the two-ocean panorama, cooler air, and the trail to themselves. Cash-tip a local guide from the Saba Conservation Foundation Trail Shop in Windwardside if you want the plants and history called out; they know which orchids are blooming that week.
The Practical Stuff
Trailhead is on the road just above Windwardside, a 5-minute walk from the village center — no ticket booth, no gate, free to enter. Wear real hiking shoes (the stones are slick with moss even in dry season) and pack 1.5 L of water, a light rain shell, and a fleece for the summit, which can be 10 °C cooler than the coast. There are no facilities, no shade breaks with benches, and no phone signal for long stretches. Register your hike at the Trail Shop on Windwardside's main lane before you go, especially if solo.
Pair It With
- Brigadoon Guide — Post-hike reward in Windwardside — hearty Caribbean-Mediterranean plates and a cold Carib five minutes from where you'll stagger off the last step.
- Bizzy B Guide — Grab a fresh-baked pastry and coffee here before sunrise to fuel the climb; it's one of the earliest openers near the trailhead.
- Angelina's Saba By OwAiChie — Casual local food and drinks in Windwardside — an easy, unfussy spot to refuel when you're too tired to change out of hiking clothes.
