The Adirondack Park is a multi-use park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
Mount Marcy is the highest point in the U.S. state of New York, with an elevation of 5,343.1 feet (1,628.6 m). It is located in the Town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is in the heart of the High Peaks Wilderness Area in Adirondack Park. Like the surrounding Adirondack Mountains, Marcy was heavily affected by large glaciers during recent ice ages, which deposited boulders on the mountain slopes and carved valleys and depressions on the mountain. One such depression is today filled by Lake Tear of the Clouds, which is often cited as the highest source of the Hudson River. The majority of the mountain is covered by hardwood and spruce-fir forests, although the highest few hundred feet are above the tree line. The peak is dominated by rocky outcrops, lichens, and alpine plants. The mountain supports a diverse number of woodland mammals and birds.
The Adirondack Forty-Sixers are an organization of hikers who have climbed all forty-six of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. They are often referred to just as 46ers. As of 2021, there were nearly 14,000 registered forty-sixers. The organization primarily supports efforts to maintain the Adirondack High Peaks Wilderness, and encourages aspiring members through a correspondents program.
Algonquin Peak is a mountain in the MacIntyre Range of the Adirondack Mountains of New York. It is the second highest mountain in New York, with an elevation of 5,114 feet (1,559 m), and one of the 46 High Peaks in Adirondack Park. It is located in the town of North Elba in Essex County. Its name comes from its reputedly being on the Algonquian side of a nearby informal boundary between the Algonquian and their Iroquois neighbors, although no such boundary existed in reality. The first recorded ascent of the mountain was made on August 8, 1837, by a party led by New York state geologist Ebenezer Emmons. It was originally named Mount McIntyre, after Archibald McIntyre, but this name was eventually applied to the entire range. Surveyor Verplanck Colvin added the name "Algonquin" in 1880.
Mount Haystack is a mountain in the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains of New York. With an elevation of 4,960 feet (1,510 m), it is the third highest mountain in New York and one of the 46 High Peaks in Adirondack Park. It is located in the town of Keene in Essex County. The first recorded ascent of the mountain was made by mountain guide Orson Schofield Phelps in 1849, accompanied by Almeron Oliver and George Etsy. Phelps gave the mountain its current name based on its appearance to a haystack, and later cut the first trail to the summit in 1873. The summit is an alpine zone above the treeline, which offers a view of nearby Mount Marcy and Panther Gorge.
Whiteface Mountain is the fifth-highest mountain in the U.S. state of New York, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains, located in the town of Wilmington in Essex County. Set apart from most of the other High Peaks, the summit offers a 360-degree view of the Adirondacks and clear-day glimpses of Vermont and Canada, where Montreal can be seen on a very clear day. Because of its relative isolation, the mountain is exposed to prevailing winds from the west and frequently capped with snow and ice, making it an area of interest to meteorologists. Weather data has been collected on the summit since 1937. The mountain's east slope is home to a major ski area which boasts the greatest vertical drop east of the Rockies, and which hosted the alpine skiing competitions of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Unique among the High Peaks, Whiteface features a developed summit and seasonal accessibility by motor vehicle. The Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway reaches a parking area at an elevation shortly below the summit, with the remaining distance covered by tunnel and elevator. The peak can also be reached on two hiking trails.
Dix Mountain is a mountain in the Dix Range of the Adirondack Mountains of New York. With an elevation of 4,840 feet (1,480 m), it is the sixth highest peak in New York and one of the 46 High Peaks of the Adirondack Park. It is located roughly on the boundary between the towns of North Hudson and Keene in Essex County. The crest of the peak consists of a very narrow ridge, which continues to the southeast and rises to a subsidiary peak named Beckhorn, then continues south to other peaks of the Dix Range. The summit is also in an alpine zone above the treeline. The ridge offers unobstructed views of Elk Lake to the southwest, the Great Range to the northwest, and Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains to the east.
Iroquois Peak is a mountain in the MacIntyre Range of the Adirondack Mountains in New York. It is the eighth-highest peak in New York, with an elevation of 4,843 feet (1,476 m), and one of the 46 High Peaks in Adirondack Park. It is located in the town of Newcomb in Essex County. Although the mountain does not have an officially maintained trail, a well-maintained herd path marked by cairns exists between the summits of Iroquois Peak and Algonquin Peak, 1.1 miles (1.8 km) to the northeast.
Gray Peak is a mountain located in the town of Keene in Essex County, New York. It is the seventh-highest of the Adirondack High Peaks, with an elevation of 4,826 feet (1,471 m), and is located in close proximity to Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York. Gray Peak is southwest of Mount Marcy and southeast of Mount Colden. The first recorded ascent of the peak was made on September 16, 1872, by surveyor Verplanck Colvin and guide Bill Nye. It was named for Asa Gray by Colvin.
Gothics is a mountain in the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains in New York. It is the tenth-highest peak in New York, with an elevation of 4,734 feet (1,443 m), and one of the 46 High Peaks in Adirondack Park. It is located in the town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is named due to the resemblance of its three arched peaks and large rock slides to Gothic architecture. Although the name has been attributed to Orson Schofield Phelps and Frederick W. Perkins, who named several peaks during an 1857 ascent of Mount Marcy, other evidence shows the name Gothics in use at least as early as 1850. The earliest recorded ascent was made on October 11, 1875, by Verplanck Colvin, Roderick L. McKenzie, and Ed Phelps, although an unrecorded ascent was likely made earlier by James J. Storrow and Orlando Beede. The summit of Gothics is an alpine tundra zone, and on clear days views of 30 nearby peaks are available, as well as the Upper and Lower Ausable Lakes.
The Dix Mountain Wilderness Area is the name previously given to an area of New York's Forest Preserve in the Adirondack Park located in the towns of Elizabethtown, Keene and North Hudson, Essex County. It was roughly bounded on the north by NY 73, on the east by the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87), on the south by Blue Ridge Road and on the west by Elk Lake Club and Ausable Club lands.
The High Peaks Wilderness Area is the largest wilderness area of the Forest Preserve in the U.S. state of New York. It is located in three counties and six towns in the Adirondack Park: Harrietstown in Franklin County, North Elba, Keene, North Hudson and Newcomb in Essex County and Long Lake in Hamilton County.
Basin Mountain is a mountain in the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains in New York. It is the ninth-highest peak in New York, with an elevation of 4,826 feet (1,471 m), and one of the 46 High Peaks in Adirondack Park. It is located in the town of Keene in Essex County. The peak was named either for the basins formed between knobs on its slopes or the large basin to its southeast formed by it and the surrounding mountains. The name Basin was most likely coined by Orson Schofield Phelps and Frederick W. Perkins in 1857 during an ascent of Mount Marcy. The earliest appearance of the name in writing was made by surveyor Verplanck Colvin in 1873.
South Dix is a mountain located in Essex County, New York. The mountain is part of the Dix Range, named after John A. Dix (1798–1879), New York Secretary of State in 1837, and later Governor. The name is being changed to Carson Peak, after Russell M.L. Carson (1884–1961), author of Peaks and People of the Adirondacks. South Dix is flanked to the northeast by Grace Peak, to the northwest by Hough Peak, and to the southwest by Macomb Mountain.
Lower Wolfjaw Mountain is located in Essex County, New York, United States. Landscape artist Alexander Helwig Wyant (1836–1892) named Lower Wolfjaw, together with neighboring Upper Wolfjaw Mountain, about 1870 for their appearance in profile. The mountain is the northeasternmost of the Adirondack High Peaks in the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains. Lower Wolfjaw Mountain is flanked to the southwest by Upper Wolfjaw Mountain, and to the northeast by Hedgehog Mountain.
Upper Wolfjaw Mountain is a mountain located in Essex County, New York. Landscape artist Alexander Helwig Wyant (1836–1892) named the mountain, in combination with neighboring Lower Wolfjaw Mountain, c. 1870 for their appearance in profile. The mountain is part of the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains. Upper Wolfjaw Mtn. is flanked to the southwest by Armstrong Mountain, and to the northeast by Lower Wolfjaw Mtn.
Mount Marshall is a mountain located in the town of Newcomb in Essex County, New York. Originally named for Governor DeWitt Clinton, and then for mountain guide Herbert Clark, it was renamed for wilderness activist Bob Marshall after his death. Mount Marshall is part of the MacIntyre Range, and is flanked to the northeast by Cold Brook Pass and Iroquois Peak. The summit can be accessed by hikers on an unmarked trail.
Couchsachraga Peak is a mountain located in Essex County, New York. "Couchsachraga" is based on an Algonquin or Huron name for the area, meaning "dismal wilderness". The mountain is part of the Santanoni Mountains of the Adirondacks. Couchsachraga Peak is flanked to the east by Panther Peak. There is no marked trail to the summit, which, being fully forested, has no views.
Panther Peak is a mountain located in Essex County, New York. The mountain is part of the Santanoni Mountains of the Adirondacks. Panther Peak is flanked to the west by Couchsachraga Peak, and to the south by Santanoni Peak.
Santanoni Peak is a mountain located in Essex County, New York. The mountain is part of the Santanoni Mountains of the Adirondacks. The mountain's name is believed to be an Abenaki derivative of "Saint Anthony"; the first French fur traders and missionaries having named the area for Saint Anthony of Padua. Santanoni Peak is flanked to the north by Panther Peak, and to the southwest by Little Santanoni Mountain.
