Mount Marcy

Mount Marcy is the highest peak in New York State, rising to 5,344 feet as the crown of the Adirondack High Peaks — the rugged cluster of mountains at the heart of the vast Adirondack Park. A wild, remote summit reached only by long trails through deep forest and rising at last to open, fragile alpine tundra, Mount Marcy is the great prize of Adirondack mountaineering, offering sweeping views across the High Peaks Wilderness and, on clear days, far beyond.

Known to the Native peoples and early settlers, and the source of the Hudson River (which rises from the small alpine pond Lake Tear of the Clouds on its slopes), Marcy stands amid a sea of ancient, eroded mountains built of some of the oldest rock in the eastern United States. The most popular route, from Adirondak Loj near Lake Placid, is a strenuous 14-plus-mile round-trip climb through the High Peaks Wilderness of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, which is protected ‘forever wild’ by the New York State Constitution. A demanding and rewarding wilderness summit, Mount Marcy is a treasured icon of New York and the Adirondacks.

Mount Marcy is above all a hiking and mountaineering destination — the strenuous climb to the highest point in New York, most often via the 14-plus-mile round trip from Adirondak Loj through the High Peaks Wilderness, a long day or backpacking trip through deep forest to the open alpine summit. The surrounding High Peaks offer endless backpacking, peak-bagging (the ‘46ers’ who climb all 46 High Peaks), camping at lean-tos and tent sites, and, in winter, mountaineering on snow and ice. Climbing to the summit of New York is the signature draw. The combination of the highest peak, the alpine summit and the vast High Peaks Wilderness makes Marcy a premier wilderness destination.

Summer and early fall (July through early October) are the prime hiking season, when the trails are clearest of snow and the weather best for the long, strenuous climb (fall brings spectacular color in the forests below and crisp summit views). The alpine summit can see harsh weather and even snow in any month. Winter offers serious, rewarding snow mountaineering for the experienced and equipped. Summer and fall for hiking (and the fall color) are the highlights; start very early for the long round trip, watch the mountain weather closely, and tread carefully on the fragile alpine summit.

Mount Marcy and the Adirondacks were known to the Native peoples — the Mohawk and others — long before European arrival; the Mohawk knew the peak in their own tradition. The mountain was named for Governor William Marcy and first climbed by a survey party in 1837. The Adirondacks became a cradle of the American wilderness-preservation movement, and in 1894 New York enshrined the Forest Preserve as ‘forever wild’ in its Constitution — a landmark in conservation history. Lake Tear of the Clouds on Marcy’s slope is the source of the Hudson River. Mount Marcy preserves the highest, wildest crown of the Adirondacks, a treasured icon of New York.

Mount Marcy and the Adirondack High Peaks are built of anorthosite and other ancient metamorphic rocks — among the oldest rocks in the eastern United States, over a billion years old — that were uplifted, remarkably, in geologically recent time as the Adirondack dome continues to rise. Though ancient in rock, the mountains’ rugged shapes were sculpted by the Ice Age glaciers, which carved the cirques, valleys and the rounded, scoured summits, and left the alpine ponds. The ancient anorthosite, the uplifting dome and the glacial sculpting created the High Peaks and their crown, Mount Marcy.

The forests and alpine zone of Mount Marcy and the High Peaks host black bears, white-tailed deer, moose (returning to the Adirondacks), foxes, snowshoe hares, and a community of birds, including the boreal species of the spruce-fir forests (gray jays, boreal chickadees), raptors, and the rare birds of the alpine zone, while the fragile alpine tundra harbors specialized plants. The range from deep forest to alpine summit supports varied wildlife. The High Peaks are a fine place for wildlife watching and for spotting boreal and alpine species rare elsewhere in the state, amid the great Adirondack wilderness.

Mount Marcy protects, within the High Peaks Wilderness, a precious range of ecosystems — from the northern hardwood and boreal spruce-fir forests of the slopes, up through the krummholz of stunted trees, to the rare and extremely fragile alpine tundra of the summit, where arctic plants survive on the highest peaks (a tiny, irreplaceable habitat found on only a few New York summits). This alpine zone is among the most sensitive in the East. Protecting the forests, the watersheds (Marcy is the source of the Hudson) and above all the fragile alpine summit sustains both the ecology and the wild grandeur of New York’s highest peak.

Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York and the crown of the Adirondack High Peaks, holds a treasured place among the icons of the state, the great prize of Adirondack hiking and a symbol of the vast ‘forever wild’ Adirondack Park. Source of the Hudson River and centerpiece of a landscape that helped birth the American wilderness movement, Marcy embodies the rugged, ancient grandeur of the Adirondacks and the conservation ideal enshrined in New York’s Constitution. The mountain is a cherished icon of New York and the goal of the legendary Adirondack ‘46ers.’

Mount Marcy is in the High Peaks Wilderness of the Adirondack Park in northern New York, most often climbed from the Adirondak Loj trailhead (Heart Lake), south of Lake Placid, reached via the Adirondack Northway (I-87) and area roads. There is a parking fee at the privately run Loj lot (which fills very early). The climb is a strenuous 14-plus-mile round trip with significant elevation gain — a long day or an overnight using the wilderness lean-tos and tent sites. There are no services on the mountain. Check the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for trail conditions, parking, regulations and the weather before climbing.

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation protects the High Peaks Wilderness of the ‘forever wild’ Adirondack Forest Preserve. Visitors help above all by protecting the extremely fragile alpine summit — staying on the marked rock and trail, never stepping on the rare alpine plants (volunteer summit stewards guide hikers) — and by staying on trails below, camping only at designated sites, storing food from bears (bear canisters are required), packing out everything, and following Leave No Trace in this heavily used wilderness. Protecting the fragile alpine tundra, the forests and the watersheds sustains both the ecology and the wild grandeur of New York’s highest peak.

Climbing Mount Marcy is a serious, strenuous undertaking — a long round trip with real wilderness hazards, so start very early, carry the essentials (map, water, food, layers, headlamp, rain gear), and turn back if needed. The alpine summit is exposed to sudden, severe weather, high wind, cold and lightning even in summer (and snow in any month); watch the forecast and the sky. Trails are rugged, rocky, often wet and muddy. In winter, this is full mountaineering requiring snowshoes/crampons, navigation and experience. Tell someone your plan, and respect the distance, the weather and the wilderness.

The High Peaks Wilderness has strict rules to protect it: stay on marked trails (and on rock, never the plants, on the alpine summit); camp only at designated sites or below 3,500 feet and 150 feet from water/trails; bear-resistant canisters are required for overnight food storage; groups are size-limited; no campfires in much of the High Peaks; carry out all trash; pets must be leashed. A parking fee applies at Adirondak Loj. Glass is discouraged. Check the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for the High Peaks regulations, parking, permits and current rules before climbing.

The village of Lake Placid (twice host of the Winter Olympics) lies near the trailheads, with the other Adirondack High Peaks, the Adirondak Loj and Heart Lake, Whiteface Mountain, the towns of Keene and Saranac Lake, and the vast Adirondack Park in the region. The Adirondack High Peaks define the region. Mount Marcy anchors the wild High Peaks region of the Adirondacks, a centerpiece of a New York wilderness adventure of hiking and peak-bagging, easily based in Lake Placid amid the highest, most rugged mountains in the state.

Climb Mount Marcy as a long, strenuous day (14-plus miles round trip) or an overnight from Adirondak Loj — start before dawn, carry the ten essentials, layers and rain gear, and plenty of water and food. Come in summer or early fall for the best weather (and fall color below). Watch the mountain weather closely and turn back if storms threaten the exposed summit. Tread only on rock at the fragile alpine top (heed the summit stewards). Arrive very early for parking (the Loj lot fills), use a bear canister overnight, and savor the highest summit in New York.