Region
Highlights
- Lower Wolfjaw Mountain an Adirondack 46er and the northeasternmost peak of the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains.
- It and adjacent Upper Wolfjaw Mountain are so named for their appearance in profile.
- The summit is tree covered but a few side trails offer vistas.
- Lower Wolfjaw Mountain is flanked to the southwest by Upper Wolfjaw Mountainand to the northeast by Hedgehog Mountain.
Routes
14 climbs • 14.8 mi • 4,799 ft gain • 8 hr 57 min
11 climbs • 10.8 mi • 3,888 ft gain • 8 hr 11 min
10 climbs • 20.5 mi • 5,917 ft gain • 11 hr 29 min
5 climbs • 16.0 mi • 5,834 ft gain • 9 hr 22 min
3 climbs • 10.1 mi • 2,883 ft gain • 7 hr 43 min
2 climbs • 16.5 mi • 5,190 ft gain • 9 hr 53 min
Latest climbs
"Hiked a section of the Great Range starting from Basin and finishing on Lower Wolfjaw. Came from camp at Slant Rock.
Starting with Basin:
Hike starts by going over a bit of a ridge from Haystack, then starting the ascent of Basin. This hike is very pleasant with lookout points with views of Marcy and Haystack. Starting at Slant Rock gets you starting the hike pretty high up already, so you are on the summit of Basin in just about no time at all. Would be even quicker if you camp at Sno-Bird. Summit is very nice with views of many of the high peaks to the South, West, and Northwest.
The trail towards Saddleback is very tame until the final ascent portion. This part is the most technical portion of this whole route, as you must scramble your way to the summit. Expect to be climbing over large features to ascend this portion of the trail. The summit here is a very nice view of Basin.
Another tame descent down Saddleback and another somewhat technical ascent up Gothics. This ascent features cables to help you climb along the large bare and steep alpine area. Be weary and don't put too much trust into these cables as some are broken and others seem ready to give at any moment, but..." — ThermarestCompressiblePillow • Jul 9, 2024
"A group hike for the 46er finish of Bob And Karen, great cool start then late afternoon thunder storms on this rough but beautiful trail, about 3 technical spots that were easily worked out. Penny made my day , what a trooper Thank you for the invite from my girl Lisa" — ramjet1963 • Aug 12, 2023
"I backpacked in from the Garden trailhead and set up a camp a mile past the John Brooks Lodge. Originally planned on doing the Gothics Loop but heavy thunderstorms forced me off. Better weather on Aug 5th so I summited Lower and Upper Wolfjaw. Total distance was 18 miles with about 3,300 ft of elevation gain." — Zardoz • Aug 5, 2023
"What can I say about another epic day in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks meeting up with some of the most amazing people I know and a bonus to get the chance to climb part of today's journey with one of the youngest 46ers in the record books, Today's w46er Climb took us to the summit of Upper and Lower Wolfjaws @ 4203 and 4175ft of elevation with about 11 hrs. on the trail considering winter season and the physical condition of climbers, Mark my word these are beasts but views are out of this world, Great day with light snow on the trail and lots of ice near the summits, even got to witness some ice avalanches near the peaks from the afternoon sun, #21 and #22 in the books. Life is good! with Lisa Michelle Michele Kendall" — ramjet1963 • Feb 18, 2023
"Tom and I left the St. Huberts parking lot at 6:51 am @ 21 degrees under cloudy skies. Up Lake road to the Wedge Brook trail. Wedge Brook was roaring due to the weeks heavy rains and snow melt. We wore micros to the DEC-AMR boundary line. Snowshoes the rest of the way to the summit. Everyone climbing took the right onto the LWJ trail and the main trail that continues thru the notch was unbroken. Summited at 10:34. Returned to St. Hubert lot at 1:34 pm." — garyogden • Jan 14, 2023
"Warm day for Winter, 40's and partly with light wind and gusts at the summits. Embarked solo from the AMR lot around 6:30 am, needed headlamps for an hour or so. Followed Lake Road until I veered off to the West River trail. Needed to switch to snowshoes right away (and for the rest of the day) as the snow was wet and hadn't been packed down in a while. Followed the WR trail to Wedge Brook trail, steeply ascending to the junction between the WJ's. Decided to climb LW first, then back to the junction and up to UW next, with MW on the way. Steep sections with tricky scrambles all the way, views at each summit before some clouds/haze rolled through. Ran into a handful of hiking groups so the return trip back the same way had more packed down trail. Overall great, but challenging hike with breaking in a lot of snow. Returned to the AMR lot around 4 pm. 4,725 ft elevation gain over 11.5 miles in 9.5 hours." — gregoryskiba • Dec 30, 2022
"Attempted a Great Range Traverse on September 23, 2022
But a freak snow storm, freezing temps, 40mph wind, and a soaking wet mountain range said "no".
Modified the plan to exit Gothics towards Pyramid, pick up Sawteeth, and head down the Weld Trail. Afterwards we had to walk out 4.5 miles along Lake Road through AMR and another 2.5 back to the Inn along Route 73 after dark.
Memorable." — ndru-virus • Sep 23, 2022
"Packed heavy and did an overnight on the way up. First of our high peaks. First time I've ever seen cables guyed to a mountain.
I'm glad we summitted on a dry day, I would have been concerned for the members of our group that didn't have solid grip on their shoes. Altras for the win!
Incredible views!
We ran out of time and energy before attempting Saddleback." — joshuagriffin • Jul 9, 2022
"Parking at the Garden was full upon arrival; after a good deal of searching, found parking at Roostercomb trailhead. Walked up the road to the Garden (took around half an hour) and set out on the Phelps Trail. South Side trail has been abandoned due to storm damage, so I took Phelps Trail up to Johns Brook lodge. Ascended up to Lower Wolf Jaw (tough final half mile!) then back down and up to Upper Wolf Jaw. Path from UWJ to Armstrong to Gothics was quite easy. Impromptu decision to hike Sawteeth, then back up Gothics and descended by Ore Bed Brook trail. Back out and down the road. Phone died 23.5 miles in." — hunterjfrost • Oct 9, 2021
"An epic and picture-perfect day hiking the Lower Great Range with Courtney. We started at a little after 6 am - last time needing to park at the AMR lot and walk up Lake Road! This time we walked all the way out to Lower Ausable Lake about 4 miles on the road before turning off onto the AW Weld trail to head to Sawteeth. We first stopped by Rainbow Falls, which was gorgeous and had rainbows, as advertised. The hike up the Weld trail I had read was "gentle" as compared to the scenic route and we took it to save some time on a big day. I wouldn't have described it quite that way and found it plenty strenuous going up. We summitted Sawteeth about 9:30 am, and the blue skies were amazing. We had definitely worked up a sweat and were surprised when we arrived and some girls were saying the wind was cold up there. We proceeded to the lookout point and made sure to get to the actual summit and then came back to sit on the rocks and enjoy the view and have some snacks and quickly understood as we got chilled sitting there. Time for long sleeve shirt #2.
The hike from Sawteeth to Pyramid (which for some reason doesn't count) was some of the steepest of the hike and we worked for that on..." — kvander • Aug 15, 2021