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For many, this upcoming weekend will bring an extra day off and mark the unofficial end of summer – both excellent reasons to spend a day hiking in the Adirondacks. Not sure where to go? Check out these great day hikes, with an option for every region. Find trail details and more options on the Adirondack Day Hikes webpage.
Northern Adirondacks: Jenkins Mountain – 9 miles RT
Northeastern Adirondacks: Silver Lake Mountain – 1.8 miles RT
Northwestern Adirondacks: Tooley Pond Mountain Trail – 1.7-mile loop
High Peaks Region: Little Crow Mountain – 1.8 miles RT
Western Adirondacks: Goodman Mountain – 3.4 miles RT
West Central Adirondacks: Mud Pond Mountain – 5.7 miles RT
East Central Adirondacks: Mt. Severance – 2.4 miles RT
Eastern Adirondacks: Belfry Mountain – 0.6 miles RT
Southwestern Adirondacks: Stillwater Mountain – 2.4 miles RT
Southern Adirondacks: Spruce Mountain Trail – 2.8 miles RT
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General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor
Dear ADK Explorer,
I is with mixed emotions that I see you articles highlighting non-high peak peaks and alternate hikes. Of course it is good to take the pressure off the over used high peak trails. At the same time it is opening up some beautiful quieter trails to over use which is destroying so many trails. You guys do an excellent job of reporting on the Adirondacks in oh so many ways. The articles on wildlife and legislation are informative and well written. I don’t have an answer for how to avoid overuse and am pleased to see you looking and reporting on what other parks are doing to manage the situation. With good Forrest management the high peak summits are coming back. I think we need to figure out how to better manage trail use. I recently was on an 8 mile “lesser” peak trail. I saw a number of parties, but it was the party of 9 that really got me thinking about use. Maybe this is just the way it is going to be. At the very least, I would like to see you recommend smaller parties, care when hiking not to widen trails by going to the woods when muddy, and of course, if you pack it in, pack it out. Or maybe even an article on trail maintenance that we can all do on each hike. Thx.
Michael, I totally agree with you that concerted efforts to divert people away from the High Peaks will only worsen the issue of overuse Parkwide, while failing to meaningfully impact High Peaks overuse–those trails will continue to fill up regardless of how many additional trails are promoted/built (a phenomenon called induced demand). That being said, the onus in the case of this particular article is completely on the DEC, since this is their press release (and they have unfortunately made a consistent habit of promoting lesser used Adirondack trails, which are nonetheless still seeing considerably more use right now than they did historically and than many other trails throughout Upstate New York); Almanack/Explorer rebroadcasts the NYS DEC releases pretty consistently, which I like (its useful)!…But they certainly need to be journalistically responsible in this day and age when highlighting their own chosen off-the-beaten path locations–there are serious environmental, infrastructure and safety issues implicated when any truly remote place “blows up” on the internet. All indications to me are that they are at least thinking about this stuff, like we are.