Cascade Mountain

Cascade Mountain is an ADK 46er in the Adirondack High Peaks region of Adirondack Park.
Its name comes from a series of waterfalls on a brook near the mountain's base.
Of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks, Cascade is the most accessible and the most frequently climbed.
The main trailhead is on Route 73, 6 miles east of Lake Placid, at Cascade Pass, overlooking Cascade Lake.
The summit is visible from the trailhead, a rare occurrence in the High Peaks.
The mountain's bare-rock summit resembles the alpine summits found on many higher peaks but instead is the result of a 1903 fire.
Porter Mountain, another of the ADK 46ers, is an easy side-trip that is usually climbed in the same outing.

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Routes

Trail from Route 73

148 summits • 5.8 mi • 2,292 ft gain • 5 hr 25 min

To Porter

7 summits • 6.1 mi • 2,392 ft gain • 4 hr 53 min

Cascade Mountain 5.0 mi route

1 summit • 5.0 mi • 1,867 ft gain • 4 hr 6 min

Cascade Mountain 5.1 mi route

1 summit • 5.1 mi • 1,886 ft gain • 4 hr 29 min

Cascade Mountain 6.6 mi route

1 summit • 6.6 mi • 2,363 ft gain • 5 hr 26 min

Latest summits

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"Jen said a few weeks ago, “I want to do the 46.” Today she completed her first two, Cascade and Porter Mountains. Jen took the lead the entire way (she says I’m too fast 🤔) and kept a great pace, proud of you! Slightly cloudy but still beautiful visible views for miles. 2/46 and well on your way now! Today the American Flag is also carried for Flag Day, a reminder how great our country is and can be further if we are all willing to work as one. " — scottturner • Jun 14, 2020

"Hiked with 3 friends, all multiple round Forty-Sixers. We had a beautiful late fall day - down to shirt sleeves while hiking, wind at summit not too bad, microspikes were very useful." — PJSelmer • Nov 25, 2019

"My first ever High Peak. We wanted to summit Cascade at sunset. There were not many people still on the trails, and all but a few were coming down as we started up. We were a bit later than planned to get started so we had to hustle. Jeff kept us to task on the time so we would make it. I was surprised that the trail was so "easy" in terms of being wide and well traveled. It was still a workout, especially as we nearly ran at the end to climb up to the summit. The view was amazing along the way as the sunset lit up the sky. We barely made it to see the sun sinking quickly below the horizon. So beautiful. Sitting up on top of that mountain and watching the colors fade and then grow dark was a truly incredible experience. " — kvander • Sep 21, 2019

"First high peak in ADK's. Great day spend with my brother, Guy, sister-in-law, Julie, their dog, Luca and Jack and I. Luca got so many compliments ..... so proud of him. He's only 14 weeks old and climbed a high peak mountain. " — jasaru • Aug 31, 2019

"We commenced the peak around 12:00pm EST (my girlfriend and I). The weather was warm, about 18 degrees celcius however had some overcast. Took us about 2.5 hours to summit the peak with about 30 minutes worth of breaks around the top especially. Once we summitted, a light drizzle of rain commenced, and did not quit up until we hit the bottom. Did not attempt Porter as the rain drizzle and my girlfriend was exhausted as this was her first ever hike and I made her tackle a 46er. " — mtlinton84 • May 25, 2019

"Started of at the bottom of the mountain with snowshoes, about half way up had to switch over to micro spikes for it got very icy, we summited porter mountain first, it was an overcast day with great views from there, by the time we hiked over to cascade about 35 minutes later the clouds rolled in covering the top of cascade so we had no view." — williamcasey • Mar 29, 2019

"Belle journée ensoleillé avec des bon amis! La rando fut très rapide vu que nous étions assez rapide. Impossible d'aller souper par contre. Aucun besoin de raquette. Probablement la dernière fois de la saison que je les apportes. " — fsoucy76 • Apr 7, 2018

"Deep snow - trail hard packed snow throughout - easy to walk on. Little ice (snow covered). Spikes throughout. Mostly sunny with low wind apart from above the tree line on Cascade where it was breezy. 29-39 degrees. Saw lots of people coming up and down. Only saw 2 groups doing Porter as well though." — rhinteractive • Apr 2, 2018

"Muddy but very enjoyable, perfect weather day and with it being shortly after a holiday...not many people were out in comparison to what I have heard about the popularity of this trail. Bugs weren't bad at all! Last little bit of open rock was a little tricky." — brittanypalmieri • Jul 5, 2017

"I had the lofty idea that I might be able to summit all 46 high peaks in the ADKs. I started with the "easiest" climb. It took me seven hours to hike what should have been 6.2 miles to bag Cascade and Porter mountains. I didn't make Porter, but did manage to get Cascade. I may never be a 46er, but I will definitely go back and get a few more!" — jennifermurphy • Jun 29, 2017