"Took the yellow trail (which I would NOT recommend due to it being long, unfun, and VERY muddy), took a while (around 2 and a half hours total) but the view at the top was quite splendid, the peak is very significant when compared to that of Bald Mountains. I would suggest you climb to blue trail up and down as it is both shorter plus funner. - 2/10 mountain points" — The-Irate-Mountaineer • Oct 23, 2022

"Completed Fulton Chain Tri-Fecta with my pal Deb & er canine Rue. Perfect 51 degrees, partly sunny, beautiful views and leaves not quite at peak but close! Majority of elevation on Black Bear, the last 1/2 mile which gave the trail some nice challenge. Not difficult;t, but fun!" — carolynsnook • Oct 4, 2022

"fun hike. Great views. went up blue trail, down yellow trail. Blue trail is shorter, but more technical. Yellow is longer, and seems to take forever-although it is not too bad" — mom23ADK • Oct 11, 2021

"Made last minute motel reservations so couldn’t get into my usual choice, Shaheen’s, so had to settle for the Tupper Lake motel. It was ok, right acrossed the street from the IGA, but I wouldn’t highly recommend it. After a leisurely start in the AM climbed Stillwater to finally hit all 25 of the fire towers in the ADKs at least once. Short easy hike so it was more drive then hike. Then moved onto Black Bear, Rocky and Bald to complete the FC trifecta. Fortunately I had nice sunny warm weather and managed to find parking as the Columbus Day weekend crowds haven’t arrived yet. Great views from all peaks once you climb the tower on Stillwater. " — Nimblefoot • Oct 7, 2021

"Followed the yellow trail up from route 28. Alanna and I both completed the trifecta that day at 12:39pm. Took 3.5hrs round trip because I had her do a scavenger hunt along the way." — kaytt987 • Sep 4, 2020

"A great hike, the best hike of the 3 mountains near Old Forge and Inlet. This is rated as the tallest of the 3 Fulton Chain. If you hiked Bald Mountain and are looking for a better challenge, hike black Bear and take the blue trail at the split, it is a little tricky if you have young ones. However you can continue straight on the yellow trail and it loops around to the summit. " — alexreiff • Jul 26, 2020

"Like an old friend back to where it all started! The Fulton Chain Trifecta, "Seasonal Version". Was my very first visit to the Adirondacks with Mark Earle in the winter 2018 doing my very first patch challenge as well as my very first fire tower, I was hooked right from the start. So today I decided to pull a solo and climb 3 mountains, one day, that make up the Trifecta, Black Bear, Rocky and Bald with a fire tower bonus. Lots of trees down on the drive down but mostly cut up and cleaned up but the storm rains over the last 24hrs left the trails very muddy and wet but still all and all a very pleasurable day. Challenge complete! Doing what we love" — ramjet1963 • Nov 2, 2019

"Fulton Chain Trifecta - Did these 3 as an early season training hike. Seems like it's becoming quite popular as parking lots were at 80%-90% capacity. Good weather & nice views from all summit. Nothing ridiculously challenging, but enough that I feel it the next day. 5 hours total for all 3. Excellent chicken wings at Screamen Eagle in Inlet after as well! Black Bear Mountain - Did this as a loop, up the "short" way (blue trail). Muddy, some tiny scrambles near the top, black flies are swarming (and a few are starting to bite!). Nice views of distant peaks from the expansive summit. Alpine-ish vegetation up top. Descending the "long" way (yellow trail) which was very gradual and mostly unremarkable. Rocky Mountain - Short and moderately steep. Basically a half mile climb up a pile of boulders. No hands required. Probably only 15-20 minutes in each direction. Great views of Fourth Lake from the summit. Would have stayed longer if not for the swarming black flies. A light breeze and lack of mud kept them more at bay than on Black Bear. Bald Mountain - A moderate incline over rocks and pine needles for the first 10-15 minutes, then essentially walking on one co..." — ndru-virus • May 18, 2019

"Birthday summit #1 of 2 (hiked Rocky after this.) Started out around 0830 after a grueling drive up Route 28- wicked pot holes! Parking is limited in winter, so I was really hoping no other ambitious weekday hikers were out, and I was in luck to be the only car in the ~3 car width plowed parking spot when I arrived. ~19° and very sunny. Barely any wind. I crossed the snowmobile trail & signed into the register - one of those that is very disorganized, people starting it front & back, some pages with only two people signed on it... this isn’t that hard! Haha. This trail was bare booted and post holed to Hell. Good grief was it bad. Followed the blue trail up. The snow was thankfully very crunchy and the trail easy to follow. Mostly flat until the final push (microspikes required.) The gain was steady but nothing that made me pause to catch my breath. The summit was nice, with a pretty view. I had lovely blue skies and the temperature was coming up as I hit the summit. I sat for a bit & had a beer, then went back the way I came up on the blue trail rather than making the loop. Since I was feeling fine, I decided to hike Rocky afterward, knowing it was literally right t..." — kellieirene • Mar 25, 2019

"I wasn't sure whether I would be able to hike Black Bear and Rocky Mountains, which share the same trailhead parking lot, due to lack of parking space. A snowmobile trail consumes most of the parking lot in the winter months, leaving space for only three cars (unless you park on the side of the road as some people did later in the day -- with my luck, I would have gotten ticketed for doing that!) I drove up and down Route 28 in the morning hours, looking for an open spot. Frustrated, I decided that my time would be better spent doing other hikes in the area, so I went to nearby Moss Lake to walk on the frozen lake and then do an intense, off-trail snowshoe climb of the lakeside peak. Upon returning from Moss Lake, I saw one available spot and snatched it as fast as I snatched a re-issued Mount Whitney permit last summer. Now I would be able to achieve my primary objective of this brief Western Adirondacks getaway: Complete the Fulton Chain Trifecta winter hiking challenge in a single day. The aforementioned snowshoeing adventure on Moss Lake Mountain depleted my energy for the day. That coupled with my heavy winter backpack, which made me feel like Jesus carrying the cross, mad..." — theascent • Mar 9, 2019