Hikers Should Temporarily Avoid High Elevation Trails in the Adirondacks

As a new season of outdoor hiking and recreation on public lands in the Adirondacks approaches the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) urges hikers to be cautious and postpone hikes on trails above 2,500 feet until high elevation trails have dried and hardened.

Spring conditions arrived early and are present throughout the State and the lower elevations of the Adirondacks. However, backcountry trails in the higher elevations are still covered in slowly melting ice. These often steep trails become a mix of ice and mud making them slippery and vulnerable to erosion by hikers as the ice melts and frost leaves the ground.

DEC asks hikers to help avoid damage to hiking trails and sensitive high elevation vegetation by avoiding trails above 2,500 feet, particularly high elevation trails in the Dix, Giant, and High Peaks Wilderness Areas in the northern Adirondacks. Please avoid the following trails until trail conditions improve:

• High Peaks Wilderness Area – all trails above 2,500 feet; where wet, muddy, snow conditions still prevail, specifically: Algonquin, Colden, Feldspar, Gothics, Indian Pass, Lake Arnold Cross-Over, Marcy, Marcy Dam – Avalanche – Lake Colden which is extremely wet, Phelps Trail above John Brook Lodge, Range Trail, Skylight, Wright and all “trail-less” peaks.
• Dix Mountain Wilderness Area – all trails above Elk Lake and Round Pond
• Giant Mountain Wilderness Area – all trails above Giant’s Washbowl, “the Cobbles,” and Owls Head.

Hikers are advised to only use trails at lower elevations as they usually dry soon after snowmelt and traverse deeper, less erosive soils DEC suggests the following alternative trails for hiking, subject to weather conditions:

High Peaks Wilderness:

• Ampersand Mountain
• Owls Head
• Mt. VanHoevenberg
• Mt. Jo

Giant Mt. Wilderness:

• Giant’s Washbowl
• Roaring Brook Falls
• Owl’s Head Lookout

Hurricane Mountain Wilderness

• The Crows
• Hurricane Mtn from Rt 9N

Jay Mountain Wilderness

• Jay Mtn

McKenzie Mt. Wilderness:

• Baker Mountain
• Haystack Mountain
• McKenzie Mountain

Saranac Lakes Wild Forest:

• Panther Mountain
• Scarface Mountain
• Floodwood Mountain

A full list of recommended mud season hikes can be found on DEC’s website. DEC’s website also contains information on trail conditions in the Adirondacks.