A cane apparatus adaptable for use as an ordinary walking cane and also having the capability of assisting a person in walking on stairs. A support structure having a foot support platform is releasably mounted adjacent the lower portion of the cane to assist a person in walking up and down steps which might otherwise be too high. The height of the foot-bearing platform surface is designed to be about one-half the height of an average step to reduce the maximum necessary vertical distance between the feet of a person walking on steps to approximately one-half of what it would otherwise be. When the platform is in its lowered position for walking on stairs, the cane shaft is free for limited rotation from the vertical in all directions.