"My 1st New York State Fire Tower hike after visiting family nearby. Terrific breezy day kept the bugs away so lots of people out here. As I was arriving at the summit, I happened to notice a doe, not 20 feet away, calmly eating the leaves on a tree! After chatting with the nice trail steward I climbed up the fire tower and the cab was open to get out of the wind. I found a number of herd paths off the summit, heading toward the 2653' bump (labelled Hadley Mt. on most maps) that I wanted to check out. They converged into one path and I followed it for about a 1/4 mile, where it came out to a large treeless area just south of the bump, where hardly anybody went to. Met a nice couple having lunch there, who were very knowledgeable about the area. They said I was at the (2660') North Peak, not at the viewless 2653' bump. At any rate, I couldn't find another herd path continuing on and it was getting late afternoon so I enjoyed the 360 views from there and returned back over the fire tower summit and down." — SteveM_StickMan • Jun 19, 2022

"Grabbed another peak and fire tower. Was expecting a decent climb but this was a great calf burner! Tested my asthma as well, but all worth it. GREAT views and a beautiful summit! Bailey pup and I took our time going up and down this one. Lots of folks and dogs out on a beautiful April day." — Mousetek • Apr 24, 2021

"Holy mother of god was it crowded on Hadley Mountain this morning! The density of hikers was the highest I've ever experienced anywhere including Hong Kong. I couldn't even go a single minute without passing at least one group of people. There were even conga lines and bottlenecks in spots! It detracted from what would've been a magical hike with the fall colors at their peak. With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down most activities, everyone has been flocking to the outdoors this summer and fall. It's reaching a breaking point in places like the Adirondacks where High Peaks parking lots are filling up by 5 AM and even smaller mountains like these are overflowing with cars and people. " — theascent • Sep 26, 2020

"Hiked with Kellie. Started out is some sleet with mushy trails. Hike to the top went pretty quickly. I was very happy with my new boots that I picked up during my last trip to The Mountaineer in Keene. When we reached the summit we spent some time out of the weather by the ranger cabin. On the way down we used the sleds for some quick descending. Overall, it was a nice day for a hike. " — Kim-Stilson • Jan 26, 2020

"Hiked with Kim. Started out around 0900 to light sleet in the parking area with one other car there, temperatures in the mid 30’s with no wind. The trail was a slushy mess to start with that gradually became more snow-laden as we continued upward. It snowed the entire way up the trail. We ran into the other hiker, a man with his dog, about a half mile from the summit- they were on their way down to the continuing snow without having made it to the summit. Considering this was my third time up this you’d think I would remember the trail, but I had forgotten that it’s a really good climb for its short distance! We chatted the whole way up taking our time and catching up. At the summit we were met with wind and plenty of snow coming down, in addition to zero visibility. We took some photos and headed down to the Ranger’s hut to shelter out of the wind to have a beer and some snacks. We noticed that the cabin has been badly vandalized with folks carving their names into it etc, and the windows are all boarded up. It appears it is now under surveillance. It’s sad that people feel the need to “make their mark” everywhere they go and damage public property. My new snow..." — kellieirene • Jan 26, 2020

"One last hike for 2019! My good friend joined me for this last one before he heads back to Fla. Just had a big ice storm so the trail had a lot of sagging trees and blow down making it a little difficult to get through but we managed! Plus we had snow and clouds but still made for a great short hike. No views but fun none the less!" — hbotc • Dec 31, 2019

"My grandson's first fire tower peak! He loved it so we'll be back for more. Love this trail - a little challenging steepness at the start, easy middle and some rock scrambles (at least for youngsters) at the summit." — PJSelmer • Aug 11, 2019

"Great day out on the trail with Matt Topgun Peacock after 5 weeks off from the high Peaks to finish the ADK Fire Tower Challenge in record style,, Three towers in one day!, Not much for views today with low clouds, Trails where snowless but wet and bits of muddy areas which made some of the rocks very slippery, so caution was taken. No bugs yet " — ramjet1963 • May 4, 2019

"This was a cold lonely New Year's day hike. I only saw a few other hikers. It was mostly cloudy with a little ice necessitating microspikes. There was a glimmer of sun when I reached the summit. The wind from the fire tower just about blew me away, couldn't get any pics from up there." — bethmorgan • Jan 1, 2019

"Hiked this one with my buddy Matt. Out of all the Firetowers I’ve done, the cab access was via a small ladder through a small hatch. The windows were screwed shut, but the views incredible." — MarkEarle67 • Sep 30, 2018