"we started our day in the Orebed Brook Campsite (which was amazing, with easy access to water and flat ground). Once we packed up we headed towards the gothics and saddleback junction, and headed up the west side of gothics and up the cable route. In fall i would heavily recommend you wear microspikes in some sections, but with confidence you'll do alright. once descended from gothics we started our trek towards haystack, descending from saddleback was a tight squeeze with our backpacking packs (we had gear for 4 days, around 20lbs). but the hardest challenge was up basin, many parts of the trail were eroded, and covered in ice. it was a little tricky to maneuver with our packs, luckily we had some help in icy sections. Than the trek up haystack was gruelling since we were already fatigued. but once we got up haystack we knew our time was short, the sun was setting and we had to descend the mountain via the south side which was rather slabby. finally after a rough day we retired to the panther gorge campsite in the pitch darkness. after a good 10hrs of hiking, and 6000 ish feet of elevation gain." — sebastienauger • Oct 11, 2025

"Took advantage of a beautiful late fall day to at least get to the ADKs once this year! Garden lot was half full at 8AM on a weekday, not too bad. Fall colours in all their glory. Nice cruise jog to the lodge, then started climbing a little more. The scramble to Little Haystack was steep, and I stopped for a little break there before the last push. Surely one of the nicest views, and on a bluebird day. From there, back to Little Haystack, then to Basin. It is a long way down before climbing back to Basin, a long slow but easy climb. Then a steep and tricky drop. The cliffs at Saddleback were beautful. Some scrambling, and pulled out a few rock climbing moves, but not as bad as I had heard. Back down the nice slow descent all the way back to the parking. An amazing day, total trail time 6h30, jogging the flats and runnable downs. " — dougbarton • Oct 22, 2024

"We had a beautiful day to finish our 46 on Haystack ! We stayed at JBL the night before, we started at 6:45 am and we were at the summit at noon. This hike is not a joke ! Lots of rocks scrambling, and starting at Little Haystack we didn`t need our hiking poles anymore. It took us as much time going down, at least to the junction of Haystack/Marcy because it was so steep, and wet, we didn`t want to fall. But we did it !" — hiking-Brigitte • Sep 29, 2024

"The Garden Trailhead (almost full at 4am) to Johns Brook Lodge. Fairly flat to here. Sign there for Haystack, but a much longer route (started this way and turned around). Went via Bushkill Falls and Slant Rock. Planned to take the Shortey Shorcut as recommended (actually slightly longer), but it was not marked, was going way down, and we second guessed ourselves and turned around. Turns out it was the right way. Devil’s Half Mile wasn’t bad. Beautiful views. Ended up somehow going the State Range and Shortey Shortcut trail down. " — AmyScrambles • Jul 14, 2024

"Got to the Garden lot around 5:30 am, but that wasn't early enough as the lot was full of cars. We turned back and parked at the Rooster Comb parking lot, adding a mile and a half to the day right off the bat. Partly cloudy day in the 50's and 60's, perfect weather for hiking. Easy gradual climb for the first 5 miles or so, then we started to climb more, introducing a very wet, muddy trail. Water dripping from the trees which were frozen the night before, pockets of snow-covered forest before the day got too warm. A wrong turn down the Shorey "Shortcut" added another mile and 1,000 ft of elevation to our day before getting to Little Haystack and eventually Mount Haystack. After a brief stop at the 360-view, open rock summit, and lunch at the crossroads, we descended and ascended to Basin. Wind gusts were a little worse at Basin, which brought down the temperature, so that summit was a quick stop. The descent from Basin wasn't easy, many slick ledges and slides. Then we got to the Cliffs before Saddleback, which were scary, technical bouldering scrambles, but all in all pretty fun. Great views down the range from SB. Trip back to Garden wasn't awful but felt like it took ..." — gregoryskiba • Sep 29, 2022

"With friends and future 46ers, we went the same route I had gone 2 years earlier and up and over HaBaSa. Great weather the entire day. Met up with some Allen red slime on the Ore Bed slide." — JMindlin12463 • Jul 1, 2022

"Did Saddleback on its own last year via Orebed trail & over to Pyramid peak as a traverse coming out the AMR. Did to avoid cliffs & keep myself safe as possible as a solo hiker, though the cable route up toward the gothics intersection was scary & exhilarating.. So did Basin up the gorgeous Shorey's Shortcut near slant rock, then on to Mt Haystack over L'il Haystack & back down to garden parking trailhead via Phelps trail. I'm a 46er baby!!!! WOO HOO!" — ionahscully • Jun 28, 2022

"Parked at the Garden well before sunrise; got some great views of the stars before starting. Trail to Big Slide was straightforward, many outcroppings along the way. Descended to Johns Brook Lodge, then up Phelps Trail to Haystack. Grueling part of the trail, over Little Haystack and up the summit! Slowly over Basin, up Saddleback (cliffs right before sunset!) before descending Orebed Brook and out to the Garden. Muscle cramping = biggest issue, and hiking in the dark: 2.5hr. All in all, a very long but fulfilling day!" — hunterjfrost • Nov 6, 2021

"Haystack Basin Saddleback: I have been anticipating this hike for a long time with a lot of excitement about the challenge of the much talked about Saddleback Cliffs, and some dread about what a long and tough hike it would be. I knew we wanted a dry day for climbing the cliffs and ideally a beautiful day to enjoy the views. I planned to go a few times this summer and plans changed because of the weather or other factors. So when it looked like this would be the weekend I could get it done, I was nervously checking the weather forecast which changed from sunny to rainy to back to sunny to cloudy over the course of the week. I had gambled and booked a room and the forecast was back to looking ok so we decided it was a go. I drove up Friday and got there early evening to the little inn I found (private room but shared bathroom, which worked out fine and was very cute and inexpensive), which thankfully also had a great restaurant so I could eat, get packed up for the hike, and go to bed early for our 5 am start time. I met Courtney at the Roostercomb trailhead parking lot so we could take one car to the Garden trailhead lot, which notoriously fills up and then you are pretty screwed..." — kvander • Aug 28, 2021

"Kathryn and her dog Rex arrived at the B&B last night. She joined Tom and I for a trio of Haystack, Basin and Saddleback today. Nice sunny weather with some strong winds on the summits particularly Haystack. Got Tom up to #43 and Kathryn up to #25 for their 46r quest." — Nimblefoot • Sep 5, 2020