"Climb is pretty hard. Lots of rock slide parts so be very cautious in wet conditions. Lots of ice and snow still on the trail in April. If you do this hike before June be prepared with trekking poles and microspikes / cleats for your shoes. The trail between Giant and Rocky Peak is very primitive and difficult. Whole thing was icy and snowy in April. The giant side of this trail is very steep and challenging, but the Rocky Peak side is not nearly as bad. I can imagine this route is much easier in the summer months, especially when dry. It just has some pretty steep sections. The views off both mountains are very good and pretty unique compared to other high peaks due to their location. I could see Lake Champlain and the mountains of Vermont to the northeast, Dix Mt and Gothics to the south and Whiteface to the west." — ThermarestCompressiblePillow • Apr 16, 2024

"After a quick snack we were off to RPR. This trail wasn't broke out as well. Fairly heavy crust that wouldn't quite hold your weight which added to the difficulty of this very steep decent then ascent then repeat again. It was a rough ascent back up Giant to the junction which ended the nearly 3 hour round trip. These two peaks done together added up to 4353' elevation gain. Returned to car at 4:09 after a long day but with a feeling of accomplishment. " — garyogden • Dec 26, 2022

"With Jeff and Meenu - peaks 24 and 25 of ADK 46 for me (and 2nd and 20th of round 2 for Meenu and Jeff). We left home about 3 am (a late start for us!) and arrived at the trailhead around 6:30 am. We took a bit of time to eat and take a power nap (Jeff) and then started off. It was a beautiful clear morning, about 35 degrees - it has been unseasonably warm and there was no snow or ice to speak of at the start. We headed out about 6:50 am to start the climb towards Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge. From AllTrails recent recordings, people had done the hike in 6-8 hours recently so we went in hoping for that, but I was also mentally rounding up to 9-10. I had also been well informed that this hike was steep from the start and I had read a few things and my friends had hinted that the route to RPR was "tricky" so I was also prepared for it to be hard. And it was, but I really liked this hike. The trek up was steep but there were switchbacks and some fun scrambles. We almost immediately got too hot and shed the outer layer - it was definitely a day of taking gloves and layers on and off.. The trail was clear for about the first hour or so and then we began to encounter some ice. We got to a ..." — kvander • Nov 29, 2020

"Becca and I parked at the trailhead at 0430 to get a good spot. It wasn't the parking lot, or even the trailhead, that we thought, but it still had access to the peaks we wanted. Somewhere along the way I dropped one of my two rubber footspike things, so I went about a half mile back to find it hanging on a tree (placed by a friendly passerby). Becca posed for some test footage for an upcoming video project, and battled her leaking water bottle all day. This hike has had some of my favorite views of the Adirondacks, especially on the descent between Giant and Giant Nubble." — mikebenjamin • Sep 20, 2020

"First hike towards the Adirondack 46er challenge. Left from Rt. 9N trailhead (New Russia); hiked over Blueberry Cobbles, Mason Mt., Bald Peak, Rocky Peak, to Rocky Peak Ridge." — hunterjfrost • Sep 8, 2020

"Sprained ankle coming off of Rocky. Shelly wrapped it tight and I popped some Advil to hike back up towards Giant and down to the trailhead. Was pretty painful - but we made it. Got home late-ish that night. The ankle was the size of a baseball the next day. " — Ayyynne • Jun 8, 2019

"Solo thru-hike from New Russia on Memorial Day 2019. No snow left, bugs swarming below 3,000 feet, trail mostly dry and well maintained. Very steep and LOTS of ups-and-downs, ups-and-downs coming over from New Russia. Do not underestimate this route! Beautiful day and scenic hike though." — ndru-virus • May 27, 2019

"Wow ,, what a day chasing RPR today,#22 ADK 46er to Rocky Peak Ridge Via New Russia, Trails were in great shape No Amazing shape with "some" snow on the upper north sides of the higher elevations which were easily passable with out leaving the main trail, A few wet and muddy spots to cross but no more then you would see after a good rain in july,, black flies were terrible though, some new light trail maintenance along the trail, new lines painted on rocky summits and a couple water crossing along the way,, Great day with Awesome company, " — ramjet1963 • May 19, 2019

"Climbed Rocky Ridge from Route 9, passing through some of the most amazing foliage I have ever seen. When I reached the summit, it was in the clouds, but as I sat there, the clouds began to rise, sending down the biggest show of god rays I have ever seen." — Right-On • Oct 9, 2018

"A perfect day to hike up Rocky Peak via the New Russia trail head! It was cool, a little breezy but clear skies up over the 3 smaller summits and onto the ridge to the summit of Rocky. Great day if hiking!" — hbotc • Sep 22, 2018