Lake Placid Hiking Details – Experience the Adirondack High Peaks!
- carleerduncan
- Sep 1, 2021
- 3 min read
Before you read any further, I want to give you some background on the tools I use to research hikes:
AllTrails App / Web – I read the latest reviews for trail conditions, parking updates, and ratings. This also ranks the hikes from easy – hard and shows mileage and elevation gain.
Pinterest – I also search Pinterest and find blog posts about certain hikes. Usually these offer more detail than AllTrails and sometimes provide other local recommendations that are helpful! (maybe this is how you ended up here!)
Instagram – Lastly, I take a look at Instagram Places to see what people wore in the most recent days and trail conditions. This has definitely been helpful when planning to pack and what to wear day of.
Cobble Hill
Distance: 2.3 miles round trip (loop)
Elevation Gain: 495 feet
AllTrails Rating: Moderate
Parking: No trailhead parking lot available for public use. Street parking on Mirror Lake Drive or walk to the trailhead from your accommodations in Lake Placid
Highlights: Located right off Mirror Lake Drive this hike was a great “Welcome to Lake Placid” experience for us. Short enough that we felt comfortable tackling this mid-afternoon upon arriving in Lake Placid and the views were outstanding at the top and along the way. You will hike through beautiful wooded sections, climb up a steep rock face (this is likely why the hike is rated moderate), and stroll next to a secluded lake.
Mount Jo Loop Trail
Distance: 1.8 miles round trip (loop)
Elevation Gain: 692 feet
AllTrails Rating: Moderate
Parking: Medium sized lot (it fills up quickly during peak times – arrive early) and small fee to park ($15) going directly to the Adirondack Mountain Club
Highlights: Points of interest like Heart Lake and amazing rock formations along the way made this short loop hike a hiker’s happy place. We took the short trail up. Be warned that there are a lot of rocks to scramble up but very doable for two adults. I would be wary of bringing Max with us on this hike due to the scramble, but if you have an agile dog they might be better suited for the terrain. There are also ladders to climb at the top, with a rewarding view of Heart Lake from above and a beautiful array of High Peaks. We ended up taking the long trail down and it is still a bit technical. 100% agree with the moderate rating of this trail and be aware of weather conditions because the scrambles can be quite slippery when wet!
Beaver Meadow Falls, Rainbow Falls, and Indian Head
Distance: 10.8 miles round trip (loop)
Elevation Gain: 1,978 feet
AllTrails Rating: Moderate
Parking: Very small lot, arrive by 7 am during peak seasons. Starting in 2021 you are required to make reservations, be sure to check out the details prior to driving out.
Highlights: There are many trails stemming from this area, so you can get to Indian Head multiple ways. We took Lake Road to the East River Trail to West River Trail to Rainbow Falls, then up to Indian Head. On the way back we took the Gill Brook trail to Gill Brook cutoff back to Lake Road. It was chilly & rainy all morning and Indian Head was still extremely crowded. Be prepared to share the experience with lots of others if you go. Rainbow Falls was also crowded and approaching dangerous as the rocks were slippery and people were dodging one another.
Parking issues and overcrowding aside, this hike was outstanding. We enjoyed our time on the East River & West River trails as they were not heavily populated with beautiful river and waterfall views along the way. Beaver Meadow Falls was vacant and glorious.
Hikes that were on the original consideration list, but ultimately didn’t make the cut for one reason or another:
Black Mountain & Lake George: 7.7 miles (moderate)
Cascade Mountain and Porter Mountain via Cascade Mountain Trail: 5.6 miles (hard)
Whiteface Mountain Trail past Lake Placid and Connery Pond: 12.5 miles (hard)
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