Region
Highlights
- Porter Mountain is one of the Adirondack High Peaks in Adirondack Park.
- Somewhat overshadowed by its higher and more popular neighbor, Cascade Mountain, with which it is often climbed, Porter is nevertheless rewarding.
- While it lacks the pseudo-alpine open summit of Cascade, there are nevertheless wide views available from the summit, particularly of the Johns Brook Valley to the east (which Porter blocks from Cascade); it is often less crowded than Cascade.
- A yellow-blazed trail leaves the trail to Cascade about 0.5 mile short of that mountain's summit and leads down into the col between the two peaks about 1 mile to Porter's summit.
- It is also possible to follow this trail from its other terminus, over neighboring Blueberry Mountain from Keene Valley, although that involves a greater vertical ascent and a longer trip.
- Porter's summit does have a great view, but not as good as its neighbor cascade.
Routes
/-73.8537506736199,44.2122578972274,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
50 summits • 5.9 mi • 2,273 ft gain • 4 hr 24 min
/-73.8537506736199,44.2122578972274,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
45 summits • 5.8 mi • 2,292 ft gain • 4 hr 16 min
/-73.8537506736199,44.2122578972274,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
40 summits • 6.1 mi • 2,392 ft gain • 5 hr 36 min
/-73.8537506736199,44.2122578972274,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
3 summits • 7.6 mi • 1,708 ft gain • 3 hr 17 min
/-73.8537506736199,44.2122578972274,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
1 summit • 8.5 mi • 2,249 ft gain • 6 hr 17 min
Latest summits

"Tom and I left the car at 7am @ 10 degrees under clear skies. We wanted to hike Porter and Cascade again to get our winter credit. After last week's 2' storm the trail conditions were perfect. Trails were all broke out as expected. Summited Porter at 9:20. Off to Cascade. " — garyogden • Dec 21, 2022

"A failed attempt to climb Little Porter ( because of a trail closure) turned into summiting Porter & Cascade. Not a bad consolation prize. Out and back mileage was 8.1 miles from RT. 73 & took 4 hrs. & 50 min. to complete.
" — billsussdorff • Oct 20, 2022

"Back again to the mountains we went, chilly morning, bright sun, and snow! ❤️☀️❄️
Porter Mountain and Cascade Mountain
Pretty easy hike up two high peaks, lots and lots of mud! The snow and ice melted off the trees feeling like rain, it was beautiful, and a fun day in the mountains.
41 high peaks left to hike for my ADK 46er challenge! ❤️🥾🏔" — Littlefoot • Sep 24, 2022

"Priceless! Spending first day of holidays hiking on some old friends with inspired to be a 46er Corny Connie in Lake Placid climbing 46er Cascade 4098ft and Porter 4059ft Mountains with a reluctant throw in, Baxter Mountain @2440ft. Great day in the mountains with inspired friends doing what we love" — ramjet1963 • Jul 16, 2022
"Molly and I reached Lake Placid yesterday. The plan was to join a group for a long hike tomorrow, so we decided to do something short today. Molly had yet to hike these peaks. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't going to cooperate, giving us low cloud cover. We headed up and tagged Porter first in the hopes the cloud cover would lift on Cascade. This did not happen and we hit the summit of Cascade in the clouds. It was windy there as well. So we came off the mountain quickly. A +2 gain for my winter 46. " — newenglandwarrior • Dec 28, 2021

"Took Bailey the Hikin Pup on our first 46ers! This hike was dedicated to both my mother and my Broski Brandon. This has been on my radar for the last 15 plus years. When my mom got into hiking, I wanted so badly to hike this with her. Slowly, distances hiked with her became shorter and I lost her to cancer. Brandon stepped in as a hiking partner and long story short here was he had sadly committed suicide last September. This was a hike we discussed several times and never could get to complete together as we had so many peaks hiked and planned, this one never happened. While early for the 46 Climbs for Suicide prevention, due to my ever changing and never consistant schedule being a manager of a short staffed business, I'm not sure if my time will allow me to climb during that timeframe. I had one day off and made the most of it. After a 4 hour drive, the struggle to park and then the success of hitting especially Cascade, this was an emotional hike indeed, then the 4 hour drive home. Beautiful day, beautiful weather and that summit feeling is unlike any other. No regrets sneaking this all in with the drive etc. This one's for you, Mom and Broski. " — Mousetek • Aug 16, 2021
"Headed up to Lake Placid with Kim's cousin Austin and his friend Donny. Planned to do Cascade and Porter since Austin hadn't done them and this would be Donny's first time in the Adirondacks. Started out later than I am used to, however there were not alot of people on the trails compared to normal (mud season). Those two guys are long distance runners, so they allowed me to set the pace up front which I'm sure was very manageable for them. We wore too many layers and had to stop early to shed items. We passed pretty much every group that was on the mountain on the way up even with my out of shape butt leading the way. We decided to go over to Cascade first to get Donny his first ADK 46er. We got out to the summit and it was super windy. After a photo or two we dropped behind some rocks to enjoy a beer and a snack. Donny shotgunned a beer after I told him that I did it on every 46er during my first round. We met another group of hikers on the summit and hung out with them a little bit before heading over to Porter. One of the guys in their group was wearing shorts and was freezing cold so I gave him my gloves to keep his hands warm before we headed out. We made quick work over to P..." — LGH-Tom • Apr 23, 2021

"Fairly heavy packed snow; still needed microspikes for ascent. Cold but bearable. Hiked up to Cascade, over to Porter, then back out. Low-lying cloud inversion made for spectacular views." — hunterjfrost • Jan 10, 2021

"Hiked Cascade and Porter with Tom on Thanksgiving Day. The weather was surprisingly mild and the trails were mainly muddy with ice at the higher elevations and in the saddle between the two mountains. We saw a lot of people once we were making our way down, but were lucky to have both summits to ourselves on two mountains that are usually full of people. Two more 46ers down for me. " — Kim-Stilson • Nov 26, 2020
"Went on my annual Thanksgiving Day hike with Kim. We decided to spend the holiday in Lake Placid this year and she had not yet hiked Cascade and Porter. The most popular 46ers maintained that distinction even on the holiday as we saw at least 30 people on our way back down. Luckily, we started pretty early in the morning and only saw two groups on our way up. Summits were mostly socked in unfortunately, but we did catch a break on the summit of Cascade where we were able to see all the way into Lake Placid. Trails were mainly muddy, but we did have to put microspikes on towards the top to contend with ice on the trails. " — LGH-Tom • Nov 26, 2020