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

see all summits

"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

"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

"Trail and summit was still snow covered for early spring day, roughly about a foot +. Came across a Pine Marten on the trail. Summit was very windy and had that all to myself as well. " — scottturner • Apr 9, 2017

"A chilly day. Summit at 11:30, very windy and cold. Stayed long enough to get a few pictures, then dropped into the saddle between Cascade & Porter for lunch. Owen has Mac & Cheese, I had lasagna, and boy did those hot meals hit the spot. After lunch we climbed Porter. Summit @ 12:30. Another great time hiking, high peaks numbers 2 & 3 completed. " — pacofive_o • Nov 12, 2016

"A little warmup for my big day - up Cascade and Porter. Despite the mid week timing, still a busy peak. Nice to see so many active people! The climb is fairly consistent and trail very well travelled. " — dougbarton • Sep 20, 2016

"Did this one back in May and today the weather was just as challenging with minimal visibility and high winds, which was ironic given 30 minutes earlier the summit at Porter was clear.g" — MarkEarle67 • Aug 31, 2016

"A humid rainy morning, we did this and cascade just because my wife Deb needed Porter to catch up to me on our quest for the 46. No views at both summits, lot of fog, wind and rain. Also the trail was muddy but we had fun, great exercise and she got another notch in her belt." — hbotc • Aug 14, 2016

"A miserable wet and overcast day, but we made the best of it. We got lucky and missed any heavy rain while we climbed porter and then cascade. The visibility was nil, but enjoyed watching people coming out of the mist at the top of Cascade. We will return as we're certain the sights are impressive on a clear day. " — Kazmuglin • Jul 10, 2016

"We joined a great group on an unseasonably warm 'winter' day to wrap up our ADK Winter 46er. Very little snow on the trail to Cascade - we passed by the summit so we could finish on Cascade and instead went right onto Porter. the trail to Porter was an icy descent over 0.7 miles. Porter had a nice view so we hung out for a while and then we made the icy trek back to the junction and made the 0.3 mile scramble up to the summit. What a fantastic day!" — deb-and-rob • Mar 12, 2016

"So this was #2 on the day and #5 in total towards our 46er goal. It was November, but the conditions were very much Wintery !! not a lot of crowds Today, as you can imagine, which for Cascade and Porter is normally difficult to come by. -22c at the summit with the windchill, but it didn't dampen our spirits. No views either, but the fact we hit #'s 4 & 5 Today, was reward enough." — UK-Ranger • Nov 14, 2015

"Did this high peak in the ADK's just after summiting Porter Mt nearby. Great day with my wife and two kids. Had lunch at the summit of Cascade and hung out for almost an hour. Crowded but real nice. " — guntet • Sep 6, 2015

"Did Porter first due to cloud cover, in hopes that the ceiling would rise or burn off enough to see some sights by the time I got to the top of Cascade. Proved to be a good plan, as the clouds dissipated and I got a few nice cell phone shots. Only hung around at the top a short time though, as the weather had called for thunderstorms in the afternoon . . . a fortuitous decision, given the claps of thunder I heard just as I was signing out at the trailhead." — cbp5800 • Aug 15, 2015

"We arrived at the trail-head around 5:35am and signed the register at 5:45am. Our goal was to make it back to the hotel by 10:30ish so we could checkout by 11. Needless to say, that didn't happen. With this being the 1st time hiking a High Peak or any peak for the matter, I had no idea what to expect. There were a ton of rocks/boulders to traverse, and with me being unprepared wearing only Keen Sandals, it was definitely more challenging than it should have been. We made it to the trail split around 8:00. It took about 30 minutes or so to make it to the summit of Cascade, our 1st High Peak. It was extremely windy and chilly. I literally had to crawl to the summit on all 4 fours because I was scared for my life; I was afraid of falling. After a quick snack, it was onward to Porter. We arrived at the summit of Porter around 9:15. Still windy and chilly, but not as scary as Cascade. We had a quick snack and texted our wives to let them know we made it. We quickly descended and made it back to the car around 11:15. Ryan dropped me off at my hotel around 11:30ish. " — jackmhare • Aug 14, 2015

"This might be an easy trail for experienced hikers but for beginners it was very tiring. The summit is wide open and climbing boulders so if you have a fear of heights going to the very top is out of reach. It was a cloudy midweek day and there were still lot of people climbing. Definitely a workout" — kathyrowney • Jul 7, 2015