Mount Marcy

Mount Marcy is the highest peak in the Adirondacks and all of New York state.
Lies in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks Region of the High Peaks Wilderness Area.
A very popular summit due to its stature and great views.
Majority of the mountain is forested, although the final few hundred feet is above tree line. The summit is dominated by rocky outcrops, lichens, and alpine shrubs.
The shortest and most frequently used route up the mountain is from the northwest, the Van Hoevenberg Trail, which starts at the Adirondak Loj near Heart Lake. From there it is 7.4 miles to the summit, a lengthy roundtrip often attempted in a long day.
A large section of the trail is suitable for backcountry skiing.
Lake Tear of the Clouds, at the col between Mount Marcy and Skylight, is the source of the Hudson River.

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"Hiked Mt Marcy with Makenna S. on a Wednesday. This was my third time up Mt. Marcy, but it had been 26 years since the last one, and it was Makenna's first time. I let her lead to set the pace. Left Adirondak Loj/Heart Lake at 08:00. Conditions at trailhead were 50's, calm and partly overcast. Made a couple water stops on the way up, and a couple stops to admire the views at Marcy Dam and Phelps Brook. Stopped for a snack at Indian Falls Overlook, which had a nice view of Wright Peak and Algonquin, though the peak of Algonquin was shrouded in clouds. Continued on, hitting clouds around the start of the alpine vegetation zone, and the wind started picking up. From that point on, there wasn't much visibility except for brief breaks in the cloud cover. The lack of visibility made it hard to judge how much remained. Reached the summit at 13:55 with zero visibility past the summit. Peak Steward said he measured the wind at 53mph. Temp was in the low 40s - good thing we brought jackets for the top. Ate lunch at the summit then headed back down the trail we came on. It started raining within about 30 minutes after leaving the summit, then rained most of the way back down unt..." — Matt-Sz • Jun 27, 2018

"What was a questionable start to the day quickly turned into the perfect day to climb some high peaks. Summitted Marcy and Skylight before spending the night down at Lake Colden." — Right-On • Jun 15, 2018

"This was the big one. I had dreamed about summiting Marcy, the highest point in my state, countless times over the years. I had spent the past two years preparing myself for this day, incrementally building up my hiking abilities until I felt confident enough to attempt this 15+ mile climb with 3,000+ feet in elevation gain. I'm glad to say that my efforts paid off, though it certainly was no walk in the park!" — theascent • Jun 12, 2018

"This was a beautiful weekend with perfect weather to combine camping and hiking with my wife Brigitte Doyon. We arrived late Saturday at the South Meadows trail-head. We then headed pass the Marcy Dam and settled our tent. On that Saturday we took the rest of the day to go to Indian Falls lookout. On Sunday morning, we started our hike around 7h30am to head to Mt Marcy. It was so beautiful, the view at the top is amazing. The vegetation as we get near to the top reminded me of a hike we had done in the Parc de la Gaspesie for a mountain called "Mt Jacques Cartier". I have to admit that I found this hike less difficult then our previous Rocky Peak ridge. " — CPaquin • Sep 16, 2017

"Car camped at S. Meadow and got a 7:30am start at the trail head. 37 degrees to start. The trail was in great shape. My 1st Marcy summit from VanHoevenberg Trail. Took an hour lunch/rest break before descending. Stopped at Indian Falls, which is approx 1/2 way point. Arrived back at trailhead at 6pm." — johngilligan • Sep 2, 2017

"Hiked with Thomas and Nick. We hiked from the Loj starting at 6am. Used microspikes all day. It was a fun hike even though the summit was extremely cold. I had no problems all day until we got back to the parking lot and I fell on some ice as soon as I took off my microspikes. Oops. Great day and another high peak done. " — Kim-Stilson • Jan 14, 2017

"Hiked with Kim and her cousin Nick. Started early from the Loj at 6am in order to beat the rush since the weather forecast was good. The trail from the Loj to Marcy Dam was all ice and very little snow. The trail got much better from there all the way to the summit with hard packed snow. We used microspikes all day and carried our snowshoes. Only got windy once we got above treeline, there were 20-25mph winds and the temp was -10 to -15 degrees with the windchill. We didn't spend much time at the summit due to the temperature. We saw tons of people on the way down, which was expected because of the good weather. " — LGH-Tom • Jan 14, 2017

"Unbelievable hike, my third time was a charm! This was my wife's 1st time, we went up the Phelps trail, a moderate hike all the way. It was cool and partly cloudy skies but the clouds were high and the views were plenty. When we summited Marcy we figured we were feeling good so we decided to do Skylight and Gray. Skylight was another Gem and really not much effort coming from 4 Corners. Gray was actually the toughest of the three because it was steeper and more rugged terrain plus we were already 10 miles and two mountains in. But all three were worth every step, we then went out via the direction of the Felspar Lean-to and then to Marcy Dam and the ADK Loj. Actually that part of the trip was tough on the feet and legs. Glad we went up the Phelps trail, much nicer." — hbotc • Jul 30, 2016

"My 100th unique mountain! Solo summit. I started out from the Loj & was very surprised at how many people were there- I suppose a lot of folks took the entire week off following 4th of July. It was hot (85+) and humid, I actually drank my entire 3 liters of water/Gatorade I brought with me. I covered the first three or so miles very quickly, passing quite a few other hikers. The incline following that wasn't all that bad, and the bugs weren't really terrible, though I did suffer a nasty bite from a deer fly, despite the fact that I was wearing long leggings & a long sleeve shirt (& was the only one out there not wearing shorts and a tank top haha). Once I got above treeline, the elevation gain was pretty unforgiving! From the start to the summit took me about 3.5 hours, my watch indicating 7.4mi of distance. I got to meet my very first summit stewards, one man and one women who looked to be about my age. They were very friendly and helpful in stating why they were there and taking photos for people (& of course warning us to stay on the rocks not the vegetation!). I spent about an hour at the summit hanging out and enjoying the view & a couple of beers, and made my way back to my ..." — kellieirene • Jul 7, 2016

"Snow showers most of the day. Wet trail with icy sections - spikes were needed about halfway up to be comfortable. About six inches of snow on the summit. Celebrated Jessica's 46R status at the summit!" — PJSelmer • Oct 18, 2015

"Enjoyed a great Fall/winter hike up Marcy with a friend celebrating her 46th peak! A light dusting of snow turned to ice and a foot of snow on top - a little chilly hovering around 0 on the summit with windchills - perfect day! " — deb-and-rob • Oct 18, 2015

"First hiking trip decided to climb the tallest peak in the state. Took me ten hours to make it to the top and get back out. I got a late start so I did not make it out until 11:30pm. I had laid down to sleep next to the trail but some hikers from Montana named Dexter and Lisa stumbled onto me and I followed them the remaining 2 miles out." — coledonnelly • Sep 27, 2015

"Decided to do some State-Highpointing on the East Coast for Labor Day weekend. We flew out of Las Vegas Thursday night into Boston, then bagged the highpoints of Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont & New Hampshire (with short stops in Pennsylvania and Maine for good measure) before flying back out of Boston on Monday. What a weekend!" — Kevin • Sep 6, 2015

"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

"First mountain of the day. Started early. Got to the summit early. Wasn't the first there, but I did have the summit to myself for 10 min. Views were incredibly. Little haze. There was a group of 3 guys, one of them was working on being on the high point of every state. Not necessarily hiking them, just being there. There plan for the day was to hike Marcy, which they did, then hike out, drive to Mansfield in VT, and hike that, then spend the night in Franconia, NH. The next day, they were going to drive up Washington, and I think they said, try to hike Katahdin the same day. I thought my plan was crazy, I felt much more sane after listening to them. I left around 10am, which a trail steward had reached the summit by then. Onwards to Haystack." — newenglandwarrior • Sep 4, 2015

"Enjoyed an excellent day on the trails with our son and two friends hiking the Loop for Gray, Skylight and Marcy from the Loj. We started out at the Loj around 6:30 am and took our time through the floating bridges to Feldspar L2 and then onto Gray and the 4 corners to Sky and finally Marcy. The day was hot and humid (~85) but it was sunny and beautiful with bright blue skies. A great day!" — deb-and-rob • Jul 11, 2015

"Enjoyed a great day with friends as they earned their 46! It was a beautiful day that hovered around 30 with flurries on and off and blue skies. Trail was in nice shape with 2 - 4 inches along the base and 6 - 8 above 3000'. Winds were high and COLD at the summit but the views were worth it." — deb-and-rob • Nov 15, 2014

"beautiful day. trail was moderate w/ a few steep pitches. trail had very few muddy spots, extremely windy on top. had a 360 view of everything and a perfect clear day to see it all. " — Hillary • Oct 3, 2014

"Je ne sais pas qui lira jamais ces quelques lignes, mais je débuterai avec une légère introduction quant à l'objectif que j'espère atteindre en écrivant le récit de nos aventures et l'objectif global que nous nous sommes fixé (au moment de ces quelques lignes, on sait bien que les choses évoluent). Pour débuter, "nous" se compose de moi-même, Pascal Laporte et de Antoine "renard boiteux" Léonard (l'histoire du surnom suivra). L'aventure début en juillet 2014, bien que nous ne le savions pas à ce moment là. Je revenais d'une rotation de travail de 2 semaines au Manitoba et nous avions planifié d'aller monter la plus haute montagne du parc des Adirondacks et d'y séjourner pendant 2 nuits. Antoine n'avait jamais fait de randonnée et fidèle à lui-même, il a dit "ben pourquoi pas" lorsque je lui ai demandé s'il voulait essayer. C'est ainsi que nous nous sommes dirigé vers le Wilderness Edge Campground situé au Adirondack Loj un mercredi soir et ayant comme objectif de monter Marcy le lendemain matin. Ayant planifié notre voyage en bons randonneurs, nous n'avions que des souliers assez douteux (pour ma part avec des trous dans la semelle) pour effectuer l'ascension. Ces événements ..." — PL5 • Jul 16, 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