Region
Highlights
- Whiteface Mountain is the 5th highest mountain in the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains.
- Set apart from most of the other High Peaks, the summit offers a 360-degree view featuring the Adirondacks.
- Home to a ski area with the highest vertical drop in the eastern United States (3430 feet).
- Unique among the High Peaks, Whiteface features a developed summit and a seasonal motor road almost to the summit.
- Whiteface Castle, built with granite excavated during the road construction, dominates the summit area.
- A tunnel into the core of the mountain leads to an elevator which rises 276 feet to the summit.
- For these reasons, Whiteface is sometimes called the "sacrificial lamb" of the Adironondacks, but great hiking trails lead to its summit.
Routes
38 summits • 10.6 mi • 3,622 ft gain • 8 hr 4 min
25 summits • 11.7 mi • 4,012 ft gain • 7 hr 7 min
7 summits • 9.9 mi • 3,542 ft gain • 7 hr 48 min
1 summit • 10.2 mi • 3,536 ft gain • 7 hr 46 min
1 summit • 13.3 mi • 3,457 ft gain • 8 hr 38 min
1 summit • 5.5 mi • 3,490 ft gain • 3 hr 16 min
1 summit • 6.2 mi • 48 ft gain • 3 hr 5 min
Latest summits
"A 2am hike up the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway to the summit for a sunrise was a bust because of low clouds and high winds, 4.5 hr accent and decent, made it to the castle but understanding the low visibility and wind gusts was decided not to accent last 300ft and to attempt another day. I enjoyed the hike back and all the lower views it offered" — ramjet1963 • Sep 3, 2023
"Hitting the trails again in the beautiful Adirondacks on my first solo day since 2019. Today's adventure consisted of Marble, Whiteface, Lookout and Esther Mountains. For some w46er credit, #23-#24 of 46. Trails had lots of soft packed snow, especially in the higher elevations, temps around freezing and barely a breeze, Thought Esther would never end, and Marble is steep both ways lol, Weather was amazing considering the recent forecast. Home safe makes for a perfect climb. Do what inspires you!" — ramjet1963 • Mar 10, 2023
"We plodded along headed to Whiteface from Esther. Trail was in great shape. Where the trail meets the Memorial Highway the wind turned brutal. We suited up and broke out into the open headed for the summit. Once in the open we were treated to a full inversion. It was incredible and really made the day! Made u feel like u were on Everest looking down on the clouds! Once on the summit we hid behind the observation building out of the wind. We left the summit at 11:45. Returned to car at 2pm. A great day outdoors with memories and new friends made!" — garyogden • Jan 21, 2023
"An Esther and Whiteface hike with friends. It was Denise's and Marielle's ADK46r and NE111 finish on Whiteface for them. The weather wasn't the greatest. We had limited views when the cloud cover drifted the right way. We were socked in on Esther. " — newenglandwarrior • Jul 9, 2021
"Great hike with Dan DeMarsh, Tommy Russell, and Scott Wells. 20s to start about the same all day. Spikes to Esther and Whiteface just fine. Today I Hok skied the toll road from the turn. It wasn’t as epic as I was hoping but still fun and would come back to skin with my AT gear. Great views all day, a tad windy on Whiteface, maybe 30-35 gusts which made the cirque traverse a ‘don't look down’ for me. About 6.5 hours " — davelaurenty • Jan 9, 2021
"A bluebird day atop Whiteface. Trail conditions were very manageable, clear skies, and some pretty views of Esther on the ascent. A gorgeous day it was to be in the mountains. This makes my 6th summit of Whiteface. Jen was happy with this one as we tried last October but weren’t prepped for snow squalls and just nabbed Esther the last time out. Jen now has 5/46 and is chipping away at her own pace, seeing the enjoyment, peace, and the challenges the mountains offer. " — scottturner • Nov 29, 2020
"Parked right at trailhead, first 0.5hr in dark. Straight up to Whiteface (alone on summit, observatory closed due to COVID), then doubled back for Esther, and descended to trailhead. Very muddy, and icy for last 0.5mile to Whiteface. Left knee troubles made for tedious ascent of Esther." — hunterjfrost • Oct 18, 2020
"This hike was one of my favorites ever! The day turned sunny when it was not supposed to and the summit was perfectly clear, it was the perfect day. Hiked with Willow and Jacky. " — juliepike • Oct 17, 2020
"Attempted a sunrise hike with Jeff and Meenu. We left home at 11 pm Saturday, after maybe two hours of sleep (plus a short nap earlier in the day). We arrived and were the only car in the lot at 3:15 am. Jeff warned us that the trail starts getting steep fast and the first couple of miles were about the steepest - to get up Marble Mountain. And he was right, it was definitely a challenge. It said it was 48 degrees when we left the car but I quickly became very warm and took off my outer layers. After we made it up the 2 miles it leveled off for a bit. The darkness was hard, only seeing a few feet ahead, and we could see the clouds and fog gathering. As we started up again towards the summit of Whiteface it was definitely getting foggy and we knew our sunrise view was probably not going to be great but we still hoped. We caught a glimpse of a beautiful fiery red in breaks of the mist as we got closer. When we got to the wall that was to the highway above us, it was starting to get lighter. We were tempted to climb that wall but it seemed like a risky idea. I was tired and hungry but kept pressing on, knowing that we were probably running a little late and the fog was getting worse. ..." — kvander • Sep 6, 2020
"Today was the day I became an ADK 46er. With a dear friends and future 46ers, we climbed from the SUNY Atmospheric Center to the summit of Esther, where I gazed at the finish line only a mere couple of miles away. Upon reaching the Wilmington turn on the auto road, met up with my friend and 46er and hiked the last few tenths of a mile to the summit of Whiteface and the end of my ADK 46er journey where I spent over an hour reminiscing and soaking in the beauty of the Adirondacks in front of me." — JMindlin12463 • Aug 1, 2020