Region
Highlights
- The summit fire tower affords very good views.
- Two thirds of the trail is relatively flat on a tote road, but the last third climbs 1200 feet in .8 mile.
Routes
25 climbs • 5.7 mi • 1,620 ft gain • 3 hr 45 min
Latest climbs
"Kelly and I arrived at the trailhead at 11:45 under light rain, breezy and 60 degrees. Traveled easily about a mile on an old tote road and then up up to the tower. Checked out a helicopter pad prior to the summit. An old ranger's cabin awaits you at the base of the tower. It has been recently boarded and locked. The tower cabin was extremely windy and offered no views due to low rain clouds. Returned to truck after lunch at 3:30." — garyogden • May 17, 2022
"• Climbed 7/21/2021. Hike was 6.2 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of 1598 on the way up. Took 1hr 35min up and 1hr 34min down. No view at the top, we were in the clouds. Eleven (including the cab) level fire tower. The Cab was open. It rained a lot the night before but not on our hike. It was very humid and the trail was very wet and muddy. Trail had a lot of erosion with exposed rock. The first two miles in was flat that went on an old logging road. The last 1.1 miles to the top had most of the elevation. Trail was better than Pillsbury Mountain. Only saw two other parties (4pp and 2pp) on the trail. Skies were clearing up as we finished. The area on the top was large with a picnic table and a cabin that was locked. Good place to have a picnic." — Tree2topper • Jul 21, 2021
"Overall great day ,perfect weather 60 to low 70's with slight breeze,recommend this climb for all ages slight hike up to start of base of mountain,3.1 miles some bugs not to bad.Pretty straight some turns ups downs great views from the fire tower and picnic table and old observers cabin on top syarted at 730 am sumitted by 9am after descent back to parking lot by 1035am." — craigjohnson • Jun 19, 2021
"A bad day in the mountains is always better then a good day at work anytime! Out for a solo hike to Pillsbury and Wakely Mountains,, Some Limited views today @ summit altitude, Better at the base, Cabin closed on Pillsbury and open on Wakeley but Wakeley had a lot of ice formed on the top couple levels, Made it sketchy to get in cabin from slippage with wet boots,, Trails were wet with a few muddy areas to be expected " — ramjet1963 • Oct 4, 2019
"One of my hiking partners and myself hiked this. We started out around 9:30 am and got done around 2:30 pm. Went to the top of the fire tower and took in some beautiful views." — Jodi429er • Sep 12, 2016
"Fire Tower #15 for me in the Challenge. I was prepared for a long difficult hike having read previous reports. A long (ish) hike of about 3 miles 1 way, took us about 1.5hrs to summit for a total hike time of around 3 hrs. It was a hot sticky day. Love the views from the top of this huge tower." — HikingViking • Jul 30, 2016
"Very nice hike. 2 miles of gradual up over a smooth trail, then once you turn right at the sign (1 mile to go) it gets steep and rocky, with a couple of very small scrambles. There is an old helicopter platform just below the wooded summit. We only climbed partway up the tower - it was windy and this one sways! It's the tallest standing tower in NY. At the 1 mile sign, if you follow the path that is blocked off, you come to a nice field, an old beaver dam and a great view of the tower at the summit (looking very far away)." — PJSelmer • Jul 18, 2016
"1st summit of the day. Nice fast easy walk in- I was excited to see the trail sign denoting that I only had a mile left to the summit-- yeah- that was one of the longest miles of my life! A thick slippery coat of ice on everything disguised under about an inch of freshly fallen snow + leaves made for a microspike nightmare! Successfully sumitted with only one minor slip. The view off of the tower was really remarkable - I loved the height of it! " — kellieirene • Nov 25, 2015
"This weekend we enjoyed a great day in the woods hiking Wakely Mountain and then checking out Cedar River Flow SP. The colors of the Adirondacks were on full display and every step was more incredible than the last. Wakely Mountain is one of the less traveled trails and is also one of the highest fire towers in the Adirondacks. The 3.2 mile hike to the ~3744 foot summit starts out with a pleasant low topo walk through the woods for almost two miles on an old, eroded dirt road (gain ~500') and then a turn at the junction for the moderate to sometimes steep 1.2 mile climb for the remaining 1150'. On the way to the summit you pass the newly re-constructed helipad and then the summit has the old cabin, a picnic table and a 92' tower that you can climb for 360 degree views. The views on Saturday were amazing" — deb-and-rob • Sep 28, 2014
"The hike was nice but I lost my dog for 2 and a half hours. She went ahead on the 1st part of the trail ( the jeep road) and when the foot trail turned right to go up the hill, she must have kept going straight. Fortunately she was back at the car when we got back!
See my trip report and pictures at:
http://www.offonadventure.com/2012/05/wakely-mountain-firetower-5512.html" — Telemarkmike • May 5, 2012
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log climbs on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.