Mount Haystack

Mount Haystack is in the Great Range of the Adirondack High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
3rd highest peak in New York, after Mount Marcy and Algonquin Peak.
Named based on the resemblance of its rounded, conical peak to a haystack. Offers incredible views from its bare, alpine summit.
Not climbed by many outside of those pursuing the Adirondack 46ers challenge due to its remote position from the nearest trailhead and the steep and challenging approaches from either direction.
Most frequent approach if Haystack is the main goal is to follow the Johns Brook Trail from the popular Garden parking area in Keene Valley to the Phelps Trail and then use Shorey's Short Cut to get over to the Range Trail.
Possible to combine this with an attempt on Marcy itself, but that makes for a long day and the approach from Panther Gorge is even steeper than that from the north.
Some hikers come along the entire Great Range itself, making the peak their last stop before Marcy itself, or combine it with neighboring Basin and Saddleback. This is known as the "Great Range Traverse"
One of the most famous elements of Haystack is the infamous "Devil's Half Mile". This stretch, which is technically 3/4 of a mile, is the extremely steep last stretch of the trail. The reward is what many peak connoisseurs choose as the finest summit in the Adirondacks.
Haystack is consistently listed #1 on View Ratings for the Adirondacks.

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Routes

from the Gardens to Johns Brook Lodge

14 summits • 18.2 mi • 5,678 ft gain • 16 hr 18 min

Latest summits

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"What can i say,, WOW! 3 mountain day and a few bumps along the way with an amazing crew to finish the winter hiking season in the Daks. Special Congrats to Ian Hamelin for finishing his Winter 46er and to Ray Finney for finishing his Regular 46er Journey, It made for a very special time to be part of this amazing event. Have to admit was a cold, snowy and very windy day on the summits that challenged my every step but with the right gear and great guides was able to finnish the day to hike another day," — ramjet1963 • Mar 16, 2019

"Last High Peaks hike of an epic 17-peak season. Cold and windy. Brutal trails. Overcame my fear of the "Saddleback Cliffs". Basin was 10x harder. Party of 2. Camped out at Deer Brook lean-to the night before." — ndru-virus • Sep 29, 2018

"Et voilà. En un peu plus de 2 ans après s'être donné l'objectif de compléter les 46 sommets, nous en venons à bout. Le plan étant de camper près du JBL et de faire Saddleback, Basin et Haystack pour devenir des 46ers. Heureusement que le JBL n'est pas trop loin, les sacs à dos de 50 lbs sur 30km n'auraient pas été les bienvenue! Tout à bien commencé et le moral était bon, malheureusement nous n'avions aucune vue sur Saddleback et Basin, tout était dans la brume. Nous avions espoir que le ciel s'éclaircirait en courant de journée, mais une fois arrivés sur Haystack aucune vue ne s'offrait encore à nous. Lors du retour, c'est la pluie qui est arrivée, comme durant tout l'été... Après le long retour vers notre campement, nous avons pu célébrer avec vin, porto et whisky. Ce qui restera le plus mémorable, c'est le réveil le lendemain avec le chien avec la queue morte hahaha" — PL5 • Sep 9, 2017

"Deb and I finished up on Haystack today #46. Couldn't ask for better weather and such clear skies. We loved this hike and the entire 46er experience. Not our end, we will be up and down many of them a 2nd, 3rd or even 12th time in the future. Moving on to New Hampshire next, well after MacNaughton." — hbotc • Sep 2, 2017

"Solo. Haystack, Basin, Saddleback. Started out my day at around 0730, by pulling into the Garden parking area only to discover that I only had a 5 & a 20 in my wallet... And there was no attendant on duty. As the parking fee is currently $7, & I didn't want to find out what happens if you don't pay, I slipped my 20 dollar bill into the envelope with a note saying it was all I had. (Imagine my pleasant surprise when by the light of my head lamp 11.5hrs later I discovered my envelope taped to my driver's side door handle with $13 change & a "thank you" written on it! But I digress..) Despite trail conditions being wet and gross I made great time from the trailhead to the JBL, and got to Slant Rock (way cool!) in just about 3 hours. Trail maintenance was severely lacking after the JBL, most log bridges were unstable and returning to nature, very degraded. I decided to take Shorey's Shortcut (Range Trail) which being only a smidge over a mile was a tough one.. Once I got to the junction between Haystack & Basin I was sad to see that it was still super foggy despite it now being well past "morning fog" time, but assured myself it would clear up as the weather prediction had promised. WR..." — kellieirene • Sep 28, 2016

"The Real Marcy’s Playground: A One Day Great Range Traverse From the inception of my days as a hiker, I’ve strived to get better—both in terms of my mental and physical well-being. For some reason, the former has been appeased by abusing the latter to the point of misery. What exactly do I mean by that? Insanity fuels my happiness. More specifically, hiking 25 miles with roughly 9400 feet of elevation gain in one day is my cup of tea. I had been eyeing a one day Great Range Traverse for a long time. I talked it up and talked it up to the point where it seemed as if it had already been done. But had I known then what I know now, it would have been apparent that I had my work cut out for me, regardless of how good of shape I was in. The opportunity sprung up after Lauren and I discussed a great way to start off our second year of dating with a 25 mile death march through the Dacks. *** A Great Range Traverse commences at either the Garden or the Roostercomb trailhead, and often ends with a 2+ mile hike to the other lot. Fortunately, we hitched a ride back to the latter trail from the Garden late at night—but that’s a story for later. At a minimum, the hike ascends Hedgeho..." — justinraphaelson • Sep 5, 2015

"After Marcy, I hiked Haystack. I really wanted to get some views into Panther Gorge. I sort of did, but was hoping for better. Looking off the backside of Haystack, it was incredible to just gaze further west into the ADK. Next was Basin. " — newenglandwarrior • Sep 4, 2015

"We joined two friend as they completed their 46er journey with a hike of HaBaSa. The loop from the Garden is ~18.9 miles with a significant amount of gain but it is one of the best hikes in the High Peaks. The cliffs were nice an easy today as their was no wind." — deb-and-rob • Aug 8, 2015

"A group of us joined a friend as he completed his 46 on Basin. We chose the HaBaSa loop from the Garden to complete his journey. The weather was very warm and humid but a nice breeze was blowing which kept the higher elevations a bit cooler. Our last trip to Haystack was via Marcy so this was our first time taking the JBL trail all the way to Haystack. The approach was fantastic. The trail from Haystack to Basin is a very steep drop and did a job on our knees but the scenery along the way is great. The climb up Basin is a favorite with the scrambles and excellent views looking back towards Marcy and the Haystacks. Coming down Basin was a bit slick and we had a few slips along the way but the biggest thrill of the day was the Saddleback cliffs. The last time we tried these the winds were fierce and it was a scary climb. This time the winds were much lighter and it was a lot of fun. We descended via the Ore Bed trail and made it back to the Garden about 12 hours after we started including ~1.5 hours of summit time. All together it was a fantastic day." — deb-and-rob • Aug 30, 2014

"Enjoyed a weekend backpacking trip through the ADKs where we hiked Gray, Skylight, Marcy, Haystack, Redfield and Cliff. The hike in from Tahawus was low, steady gain until the Flowed Lands with intermittent mud areas. The next 3 or so miles to Uphill L2 has some gain to it :) The junction for Gray is about 1.6 miles from the L2 area and is a slab type hike that is short and steep but it is not too difficult. After this we continued past Lake tear of the Clouds towards 4 corners and crossed over to climb Skylight. This trail was a bit longer and more of a rubble stream hike. The last part of the approach is a massive open rock summit and was awesome! We had the windy summit to ourselves and enjoyed a snack while we watched all of the people on Marcy. After that we hiked back down to 4 corners and started the ascent to Marcy. This approach to Marcy is a steep slab hike that leads to a very steep open rock scramble which was a bit tough but fantastic. After enjoying the crowded summit we went over and down the VH trail side towards Haystack. This route to Haystack is about 2.2 miles and is very steep but it is well worth the views - amazing. We returned to Marcy and back t..." — deb-and-rob • Jun 21, 2014

"It wouldn't be a peakbagging experience in the Adirondacks if I wasn't being chased by thunder clouds on the last summit of the day. 9th peak of the day, 7th ADK 46er high peak along the great range traverse. Excellent views all around. Hiked down into Panther Gorge and shared the lean-to shelter with 4 people from Buffalo. Great way to end a full day back-packing. " — MooseHiker • Aug 2, 2013

"Climbed from the Garden up the Phelps Trail to Haystack then continued on the Graat Range past Basin, Saddleback, Gothics Armstrong, Upper Wolfjaw, Lower Wolfjaw and back to the Garden. See my pics and trip report at: http://www.offonadventure.com/2012/06/most-of-great-range-day-61512.html" — Telemarkmike • Jun 15, 2012

"I let Cathy Kohler choose what High Peak she wanted to climb and she chose Haystack. We went over Little Haystack too. On the way to JBL, I had met some of my husband's Boy Scouts who were heading for the ADK Range Trail. When Cathy and I came down from Haystack we met the boys heading for Marcy. They were out of water and Cathy gave them an extra bottle she carried. Soon after we parted ways the boys came down and passed us going out, wisely deciding they had had enough for the day, especially since they had already finished the water!" — barbaratraver • Jul 23, 1986

"On my second day of Adirondack High Peaks climbing, Frank and I climbed the very steep "backside" of Haystack, coming up from Panther Gorge. I seem to remember using a lot of handholds. It was only about a half day so we rested the rest of the day before backpacking back to Elk Lake the next day. " — barbaratraver • Aug 8, 1985