How to get a ladder in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Are you trying to get onto those high cliffs on your island? Like in real life, there’s a tool you can use to get up to those hard-to-reach places. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get a ladder in Animal Crossing New Horizons. It’s a long process, but having access to the ladder is well worth it. Here’s everything you need to know.

How to get a ladder in Animal Crossing New Horizons

To get the ladder, you will need to get the shop on your island. Getting the shop requires you to pay off your island package from Tom Nook. You can complete Nook Miles challenges to accrue enough Miles to pay off the island. It costs a whopping 98,000 Bells, but you can take out a loan to pay it off immediately. After doing this, you and your fellow islanders can become homeowners. 

When you and your fellow islanders become homeowners, it increases your total islander homeowners to three. You can then build the shop by talking to Tom Nook. He will mention something about a special project, requiring you to collect Wood and Iron Nuggets. After gathering the necessary materials for Tom, the building process begins. 

Building your house and shop takes about a day to complete. When the building is complete, Tom Nook gives you an overview of the shop. He’ll let you know about the goods available for sale in the shop that rotates daily. After the celebration, Tom Nook will talk to some new people who want to move to the island.

Head over to Resident Services and talk to Tom Nook. Select “what should I do?” from the list of options to receive a bridge construction kit. Complete this to move on to the next step. You’ll need some log stakes, clay, and stone, which you can harvest quickly enough. 

Go back to Tom Nook after completing the task and select the “what should I do?” option once again. Tom will let you know about three islanders who want to move onto the island. You’ll receive three housing kits to set up their homes. Find a few plots for the houses and place the kits. After placing the second home, Tom Nook will give you a call and tell you he needs some flowers from up on the cliffs.

When you receive the call from Tom Nook, he will send you a DIY recipe for a ladder. The ladder recipe requires 4 Wood, 4 Hardwood, and 4 Softwood to craft. Equip your ladder and go over to a cliff—press A to use the ladder and climb up the cliffside. That’s how to get a ladder in Animal Crossing New Horizons.