Snowy Mountain (Fire Tower)
Region: West Canada Lakes Wilderness, Adirondacks
October 31, 2020 | Indian Lake, NY
Halloween Hike
The background: This was my final hike of the 2020 season in the Adirondacks, and the last day of my fall-cation. It also happened to be the last day of October – AKA Halloween! Ely and I decided to continue our fire tower hiking and settled on Snowy for this brisk autumn Saturday (yes, snowy was snowy this day!) This trail is certainly one of the more challenging fire tower hikes and can be comparable to a shorter High Peak with steep and unforgiving terrain. You will gain over 2,000 feet of elevation during your trek to the summit!
Getting there: Tucked in the West Canada Lake Wilderness, you’re looking at an hour drive from Lake George, or an hour and 40-minutes from Lake Placid. Set your GPS to the town of Indian Lake on NY-28. On the corner with the Stewart’s Shop, turn onto Sabael Road (NY-30 S) and in about 7 miles, a decent-sized parking area pull-off will be to your left. In 3- season weather, your vehicle should have no problems as this is a paved road. As usual, you probably won’t have cell service until you start to gain elevation.
Note: Once you park, you will cross the street to pick up the trail (there’s a sign, too.)
The hike: 6.8 miles out-and-back to a wooded summit with a fire tower. As of when we visited, you can climb the open tower and take in the gorgeous, sprawling views of the surrounding wilderness area. The trail is well-maintained and (mostly) well-marked.
Since the sun didn’t rise until much later this time of year, we decided to get a “later” start around 8:30 AM, given we wouldn’t be battling crowds of people for space to park. This was perfect for me as I would be driving back downstate after (sadly) and gave me time to pack up. We met at the trailhead and geared up for our HALLOWEEN hike! Ely was a bunny and I was a cat (photos below, of course.) I couldn’t think of a better way to start the day. It was a frigid morning and not expected to warm up too much, so we bundled up, got our ears on, made sure we had our micro spikes, and headed out. There had been scattered snow throughout the region, and we were prepared to face what waited for us. One other car had pulled up, but as we thought, not too many hikers were out on this freezing fall morning (yet.)
The first two miles are relatively flat and absolutely beautiful – we were surrounded by trees and crisp leaves, as the sun started to peak through them. Aside from laughter (a constant on our hikes) we listened to the soundtrack of mother nature, the trickling water from the stream crossings, and all that the cold morning offered us. We soon started to see patches of snow, indicating what was to come for the next mile and a half of our hike to the summit.
And then we started to travel through a (literal) snowy winter wonderland, putting on our micro spikes and anticipating the climb ahead. Many rock scrambles and a few sketchy climbs later, we made it to the first viewing area, where we could now see how far we’ve come. We kept traveling through the beautiful snow-covered forest to reach our final destination – the fire tower! Like most of the trail, the summit is treed-in; your main view will be from the tower itself. We safely climbed to the top where we were treated to views of lightly snow-capped mountains and Indian Lake. We had made the 3,899-foot climb (not including the tower) and now took a moment (or awhile…) to soak it all in. After snapping photos and devouring Reeses’ Pieces (it was Halloween, after all!) we prepared to make our descent. We ran into a few other hikers who had made the climb and were now checking out the tower, greeted them quickly, and carried on back to the viewing point. The weather never really warmed up, but we were fortunate that the sun had made an appearance and the wind was not too strong. We took a few moments at the viewing area, waved farewell, and started our descent, which was still a bit icy and snowy. We had an uneventful hike back to the trailhead where I was dreading to say goodbye to Ely for the season; however, it was a successful and AMAZING day in the mountains, celebrating Halloween, the end of autumn, friendship, and fun. And of course, the one thing that brought us together—mother nature.
Concluding notes:
This is one of the more challenging fire tower hikes as I mentioned, but it is not impossible if you allow enough time and climb carefully. To put into perspective, I would not take someone who is brand new to hiking up this trail if it is their first hike. If you are well into your fire tower and hiking journey, this mountain is a great challenge and a fun one. I will for sure be back again!
An ideal day and what you can pair this hike with:
As you just read, this is a more challenging hike, so you deserve a bite (or two) afterwards! For something in the immediate vicinity, check out the Indian Lake Restaurant and Tavern (back on Route 28 where the Stewart’s is – it will be across the street.)
Chimney Mountain is nearby, which is a much shorter hike about 25 minutes away (but still steep!) Read more about it here.
Sawyer Mountain and OK Slip Falls are also options not too far away (if you have time!) I have not completed either yet.
If you have much more time and energy, another fire tower heading south is Pillsbury Mountain (14 miles away/ 20 minutes.)
I was heading back to Long Island, so found a Dunkin’ Donuts for the ride home near the edge of the Blue Line ;)
