These 5 hikes in Adirondacks offer beautiful views, challenging enough and at the same time doable as a family hike with kids. We would advise to make them with kids at least 6 or 7 years old. But it is possible that younger kids will make them as well. Just take your time and enjoy the nature.
This post is a continuation of our hiking guides in Adirondacks.
Poke-o-Moonshine Mountain
Poke-o-Moonshine Mountain trail is a moderate hike and its summit offers incredible views of the Adirondacks High Peaks and of Lake Champlain. The name of the mountain is coming from a combination of 2 Indian words that describe smooth rocks on the summit and broken rocks in the cliff.
There are two trails to the summit. We took a longer trail because we missed the trailhead of the shorter one.
On the top, there is a fire tower you can climb to. The fire tower and trails to the summit are maintained by efforts of the private group called “Friends of Poke-o-Moonshine”. You will see the signs asking you not to walk on the grass between rocks in order to help to restore the natural landscape.
Besides a few points of view on the way up, there is an interesting place you are passing by – the remnants of Fire Observer cabin. It was built in 1936 and burned down in 1993, likely from a lightning strike. The period from May to October is a time of the high fire danger, so generally, the fire observers would live on the mountain for these 6 months, with or without family. In 1988 aerial fire detection by planes replaced Adirondacks fire towers.
One of the things we will remember this trail for is an abundance of chipmunks 🙂 They were everywhere around us, making noise and going through fallen leaves.
Stats of the Observer’s Trail
The official declared round trip distance is 2.4 and 4.8 miles for short and long trail respectively. But our tracking device showed us 6.1 miles at the end of the hike of the long trail. Probably, the trail has been rerouted so the information is not up to date which leads to this discrepancy.
We spent 1 hour on the top, relaxing, taking pictures, soaking up the autumn sun and taking pleasure in the beauty and power of our Nature. Overall, it took us 4 hours and a half to complete the trail.
- Length – 6.1 miles
- Elevation gain – 1450 feet
- Elevation – 2180 feet
Video from our hike
Hurricane mountain
Hurricane mountain is another place from which you can enjoy the views of Adirondacks High Peaks and Lake Champlain. The North trail has a moderate difficulty. So far it was the longest hike we had in Adirondacks.
It starts as a flat hike in the woods and after 1 mile begins gradually incline up to the top with not too much strenuous climbing near the summit. There is a fire tower and if you want more long-distance views, climb it up. The views are breathtaking. The greatness of the mountains is stunning.
We spent 1 hour there, at the top and around noon started to descent. By this time more and more people were showing up on the summit and the way back became very busy.
Overall, agree, this is a moderate hike, some difficulties could be mostly because of the distance and incline.
Also, remember that descent is a way more complicated than ascent due to many reasons: you get tired, excited after been on the top, you are in a rush or just mistakenly think that way down is easier. All that decreases your vigilance. In addition to that, hidden under fallen leaves mud on the trail could get you slipped very easy. Just keep it all in mind and don’t underestimate the way down.
Stats of the North Trail
The round trip is 5.3 mi (8.5 km). Our app showed us 7 mi at the end :). Overall, the trip took us 5 hours: 2 hours to reach the summit, 1 hour to relax there and 2 hours to get down.
- Length – 7 miles round trip
- Elevation gain – 1600 feet
- Elevation – 3694 feet
Video from our hike
Catamount mountain – great scrambling hike in Adirondacks.
This is another interesting hike to the small peak in Adirondacks that offers spectacular views from the summit. The name “Catamount” is coming from the old slang for any medium-sized or large wild cat, especially a cougar, that used to live in the Adirondacks. Due to the first cutting for charcoal and later burning, the steep side of the mountain is bare. Since 2013 it’s been an official DEC trail but there is still enough room for improvement, mostly in trail marking.
A trail is flat at the beginning and then after dipping briefly to cross a small brook it climbs up. It continues as a mostly steep climb to a narrow rocky pass – Chimney. The Chimney requires some scrambling skills and may be difficult for small kids and anyone not comfortable with the height. After this part, you need to climb a few meters in a narrow, just for your foot, notch on a rocky inclined surface to reach the first summit. From this small summit, the trail goes through the trees and for the last part, there is another stretch to climb. This time – to the big summit.
Starting your zig-zagging climb across a series of open ledges to reach the big summit, be careful. This part is also poorly marked: no painted marks at all with intermittent cairns ( man-made pile of stones) instead. Very easy to take the wrong direction and you must return back to find a good one.
But all that hard work worths the views from the big summit 🙂
Stats of the trail
The mountain has 2 open summits. The official distance to the big one is 1.8 mi (2.9 km). We reached the summit in 2 hours, spent 1 hour on the top and descended in 2 hours.
- Length – 5.3 miles round trip
- Elevation gain – 1571 feet
- Elevation – 3169 feet
Video from our hike
Pitchoff mountain and Balancing Rocks.
The hike to Pitchoff mountain, the 80th highest peak in the Adirondacks, provides very good views on Cascade Mountain and Algonquin Peak.
The parking area fills quickly, especially on weekends so if you really want to hike there, it’s better to come early otherwise you will park your car on a roadside. There are West and East trails. The first one is more popular and less steep, so we chose it.
On this hike, it is very easy to get off the trail and we did it twice due to a poor marking on the most difficult part. So, having a good topographic map could help a lot. By saving you time and energy. There is no view from the summit because it is in the woods, but if you go slightly down and further there is a lower summit that offers great views on Cascade mountain. After some relaxation time, we decided to proceed to have a view of the Lake Placide. On the way back we turned to Balancing Rocks. And the Balancing Rocks have amazing views! There is something bewitched in how they look: on the edge of the mountain, between rocks and clouds. The wind forced us to put on our warm clothes and gloves to extend a little bit of our stay there.
Definitely, the trail is not easy but we wouldn’t say it is very difficult. Moderate is just right, so we would not recommend it for inexperienced hikers. The main problem you can encounter is undoable stretches when you get off the trail due to poor marking. And, as usual, you need to be very vigilant going down on a steep trail. The trail is covered by fallen leaves, look pretty but small gravel-like stones could be hidden under. And when you step on them, they can make you slide. We used the trekking poles on the way up and down.
Stats of the Western trail
Pitchoff Mountain and Balancing Rocks Trail is a 7.8-mile round trip. We started at 08:35, in 2 hours we reached the summit. With some time for rest and walking back and forth to see a Lake Placide, we began the way down at 12:05 and after seeing Balancing Rocks descended to the parking area at 14:15. So, overall the trip took us about 6 hours.
- Length – 6.7 miles round trip (including Balanced Rocks)
- Elevation gain – 1300 feet
- Elevation – 3500 feet
Video from our hike
Bear Den Mountain – hidden hike in Adirondacks
Another poorly marked but beautiful and not very crowded trail 🙂 Bear Den Mountain offers a moderate hike near one of the highest peaks of Adirondacks – Whiteface Mountain. In the beginning, follow red markers which will be replaced by yellow ones once the trail turns left from Flume trails. In autumn with all its colorful foliage, yellow marks easily could be missed. So, once again, it’s good to have a topographic map with you. The whole way up is pretty steep with a steady incline that could make a hike even more difficult after a rainy day. But we were lucky to enjoy the fresh sunny weather and hiked on dry colorful fallen leaves.
The summit is not very big but very windy. It offers a beautiful view of Whiteface Mountain. In 10 minutes on the windy top, we got cold and hid in the woods nearby with all our gloves, hats and other warm clothes put on 🙂 So, on the summit and close to it we spent less time than usual.
Stats of the trail
All the trip was 3.5 hours: 1.5 hours to climb up, 1.5 hours to go down and 30 min on the summit.
- Length – 4.2 miles round trip
- Elevation gain – 1300 feet
- Elevation – 2650 feet
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