Back to my Skidmore website

If you do not have a car, I highly recommend exploring North Woods, right in our backyard. You can walk, run, hike or cross-country ski here.

Hiking

Things to note about hiking in this area: Black fly season starts when summer hiking season starts, from around mid-may to early July. The first snowfall in the high peaks area is usually in early October. Snowshoes are required in areas where there is at least 8 inches of snow. Mud season is usually late March-late May, and it's best to avoid hiking above 2500 feet at this time to protect the trails.

Saratoga/Albany/Schenectady/Warren county:

State parks: Moreau, Thatcher, Saratoga Spa
Saratoga county trails: Wilton Wildlife Preserve is 7 miles from Skidmore. Click here for a list of nature trails, and wildlife preserves in the area. These trails are great for walking, trail running and XC skiing in this area, some of them are maintained by Saratoga Plan.
Schenectady county trails: Schenectady county has a lot of lovely parks - I have been to Plotterkill, Sander's Preserve, Indian Meadows and Central Park. I found many others listed here.
Albany county trails: Albany too has a lot of parks, Thatcher is unfortunately the only one I have been to but I hope to find more. Here is a list of others.
Warren county trails: Warren county on the north of Saratoga also has a lot of trails - this is where the Adirondack park starts. Here is a list of parks in Warren county.

Check out the DEC website for a lot of helpful information about the Adirondacks and Catskills. I highly recommend buying and carrying paper trail maps of the area when you go hiking, but location-based apps for hiking such as Gaia and AllTrails are also very helpful! If you have questions when planning a hike, feel free to send me an email.

Lake George area

If you only had an hour or two to spare and wanted to do a short hike, I would suggest Pinnacle - it is a relatively short hike for a spectacular view of the lake. If you had more time, I would recommend doing Sleeping Beauty or Buck mountain.

Pilot knob (~2 miles, ~600 ft): Gazebo at the top to watch the sunset!
Pinnacle (~2 miles, ~500 ft): moderate hike with great views and perfect for sunrise!
Prospect (~3 miles, ~1500 ft): 360 degree views. Trail goes over I-87! Has a road to drive up, which closes mid November, after which road is open to skiing
Crane mountain (~3 miles, ~1300 ft): challenging hike with some scrambling. Has a really tall ladder towards the top, so not fit for dogs.
Sleeping beauty (~5 miles, ~1300 ft elevation): great views of Lake George! Road to parking lot is closed in winter, which adds another 2-3 miles.
Hadley mountain (~3 miles, ~1500 ft): another great hike for sunset
Buck (~6 miles, ~2000 ft): moderate hike, perfect for watching sunset!
Cat and Thomas (~7 miles ~1600 ft, Thomas alone is around ~3 miles, ~700 ft): Both have really good views of the lake. Cat has better views than Thomas.
Black (~6 miles, ~1200 ft) -- Some good views of Lake George and the high peaks.

If you want to try some challenging and less popular hikes in Lake George area,

Erebus (~9 miles, ~1800 ft): This trail has no views but has a lot of beautiful ponds along the way. Can be combined with Sleeping Beauty or Black
Tongue mountain range (Northern part is ~11 miles, ~3000 ft and southern part of the range is ~15 miles, ~3000 ft) -- be wary of rattlesnakes when temperatures go above 50F! The northern part of the hike has some views of the lake, of Lake George mountains and the high peaks in late fall/winter/early spring, but the southern part, especially Fifth and Five Mile has great views of Lake George.

Lake Placid area

If you wanted to do a short and easy hike to get a spectacular view, I highly recommend Mt. Van Hoevenberg. If you had more time to do a 5-6 mile hike and were not worried about some rock scrambling, I recommend Hurricane or Noonmark. Hurricane gives you views of both the high peaks and of Lake Champlain while Noonmark gives you an opportunity to be closer to the high peaks.

Indian Head and Fish Hawk Cliffs (~10 miles): This is the photo I have in my office, overlooking the Ausable Lake. Mostly walking on the road, only 750ft up from lake road. AMR trailhead started a permit system from May 2021 and no dogs at AMR property.
Baxter (~2 miles, 787 ft): A nice gentle trail with some good views of the high peaks.
Owl's Head (~1 mile, ~475 ft): The one by Keene, spectacular views of Giant, Hurricane and the Cascade/Porter range and especially at sunrise
Mt Jo (~2 miles, ~700 ft): A nice short hike up in the high peaks region, starting at the ADK Loj
Noonmark (~6 miles, ~2300 ft): Challenging but fantastic views of the high peaks. AMR trailhead started a permit system from May 2021 and no dogs at AMR property. Round pond trailhead is less busy and dogs ok.
Hurricane mountain (~6 miles, ~1500 ft): great views of both high peaks and Vermont, fire tower at the top.
Round mountain (~4 miles, ~1900 ft): Moderate hike with great views of the high peaks. AMR trailhead started a permit system from May 2021 and no dogs at AMR property
Blueberry (~5 miles, ~1900 ft): Blueberry is another moderate hike with really good views of the high peaks.
Hopkins (~6 miles, ~2000 ft): Amazing views, mostly of Giant, start from Roostercomb parking lot.
Snow mountain (~4 miles, ~1200): pretty waterfall on the way, easy at the start but some scrambling towards the top
Roostercomb (~5 miles, ~1800 ft): can be done with the Snow Mountain. Better views than Snow but tougher with some scrambles and a ladder near the top. A little busier than Snow. I haven't hiked this yet.
Jay mountain (~6 miles to the viewpoint, ~2400 ft): Lovely ridge hike, with some spectacular views of Lake Champlain.
Mt. Van Hoevenberg (~4 miles, ~900 ft): moderate difficulty with a few lookouts with beautiful mountain views in Lake Placid. Definitely my favorite short hike of the area.
Bald Peak (7 miles, ~2800 ft): Challenging with quite a few scrambles, but not quite as tough as Noonmark. Excellent views at top and along the way, on par with Hurricane Mtn. Windy at the top. I haven't hiked this yet.

The 46 4000 footers called the ADK high peaks This is a fantastic challenge, but be aware that some of these hikes are very remote. If you plan to do any of these peaks or the challenge itself, I recommend refering to the Off on Adventure blog or the ratings on the Adirondacks High peaks website or this blog. I also recommend AMC's High Peaks Trails book as another source to help you plan the hikes. If you do not plan on doing the entire challenge, here are a list of my recommended peaks to do out of the 46 - ratings, including mine below and the ones I recommend above, are highly subjective.

Whiteface (~7.5 miles, ~3000 ft): Whiteface has spectacular 360 views, and is not too difficult a hike except at the start and the end. I have been lucky to have gotten views every time I was up there! There is a road to the top that you can drive or ski up if you do not want to hike up.
Colden (~12 miles, ~3000ft): one of my favorite hikes in the high peaks, especially if you take the route via Avalanche Lake.
Cascade and Porter (~7 miles, 2200 ft total, Cascade alone is ~5 miles, ~2000ft): Cascade is the least challenging of the high peaks, and it offers spectacular 360 views for sunset and sunrise. Porter is still worth doing even if you do not want to be a 46er. I would avoid this hike, if you don't like seeing crowds on hikes, because this hike is always crowded, unless you do the hike from Marcy field, via Blueberry mountain, which makes it a longer hike.
Big Slide (~9 miles, ~3000 ft): slightly more challenging than Cascade. It has a ladder and some minor scrambling closer to the top, but has fantastic views along the Brothers
Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge (~8 miles, ~4000 ft, Giant alone is ~5 miles, ~3000 ft): Giant alone might be better if you are not comfortable with scrambling. The section between Giant and Rocky Peak is very steep and requires a lot of scrambling.
Wright, Algonquin and Iroquois (Wright alone is ~7 miles, ~2500 ft. Adding Algonquin and Iroquois makes it ~10 miles, ~3900 ft): Wright alone is my favorite hike because it's a relatively easy hike for the views and it's so much quieter than Algonquin. There is also a memorial for a Cold War era plane crash at the top. Algonquin is the second highest peak, but surprising only has one or two tricky spots. Iroquois isn't too challenging to get to from Algonquin especially if it is a dry summer day.
The Great Range: consists of a lot of mountains (Lower and Upper Wolfjaws, Armstrong, Gothics, Sawteeth, Saddleback, Basin and Haystack) that are very challenging but have spectacular views -- sort of similar to the Presidential or Pemigewasset traverse in the White mountains. Some of the hikes have spectacular views, especially Gothics, and can be a bit challenging with the rock scrambles but are not too long (~10 miles) if hiked alone, so can be good day hikes. Haystack is my favorite among these hikes but the hike to and from Haystack from the Garden parking lot is close to 20 miles. This range also has some of the most technical parts of the High Peaks, with the cliffs on Saddleback and the cable route up Gothics. Marcy, the tallest peak in NY, though not really a part of the Great Range, is often considered to be so since it's very close to Haystack. Marcy is a long hike but not as difficult as some of the other tall peaks, so definitely worth hiking!

Minerva area

Moxham Mountain (~5 miles, ~1300 ft): great views of Gore mountain.

Saranac Lake area

Ampersand (~5 miles, ~1700 ft): best views I have seen outside of a 4000 footer in the NE, lovely views of the Saranac lakes and the high peaks.

Catskills:

Giant's ledge and Panther mountain (~7 miles, ~2000ft): has some good views of the Slide mountain wilderness
Hunter (~5 miles, ~2200 ft): tallest mountain in the Catskills, has a fire tower at the top
Blackhead and Black Dome (~6 miles, ~2200 ft): some of the most spectacular views in the Catskills.
Slide (~6 miles, ~1800 ft): 2nd tallest mountain in the catskills, but I haven't done this yet.
Windham High peak (~6 miles, ~1500 ft): I haven't done this yet, but I have been told it is a great hike!

Berkshires

Greylock (tallest mountain in MA, and site of American Hogwarts!): Several trails up, but the one with Stony Ledge is the prettiest. I have never gotten a view here yet!
Monument mountain (~3 miles, ~950ft): not rocky except at the top. Beautiful views.

XC Skiing

Both Wilton Wildlife preserve and the Brookhaven golf course in Greenfield groom their trails and are free, but do not offer ski rentals.
Coles Woods in Glens Falls, NY is groomed and free, and Inside Edge offers ski rentals.
Lapland Lake (Benson, NY), Van Hoevenberg and Cascade Inn (Lake Placid, NY) all offer groomed trails, rent skis and have day and season passes. Cascade only has classic ski trails. Lapland is my favorite ski area, for their grooming and their trails! Van Hoevenberg has a lot more trails and variety, and a lot more black trails compared to Lapland.
All of the parks in Saratoga area are great for backcountry skiing.
You could ski on the road to the Santanoni camp in the Minerva area, up to Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, and Prospect Mountain in Lake George area.
Jackrabbit trail in Lake Placid is awesome but challenging in places for backcountry skiing.
In VT, the closest ski areas to the Saratoga area are Prospect, Wild Wings and Viking, which all have groomed trails and all offer day passes and rentals.