Hiking Cascade Mountain In The Adirondack Mountains

The blog post is about our experience hiking Cascade Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains – one of our favourite hikes to date! This hike isn’t TOO long and gives a seriously stunning view, making it the perfect day (or even overnight!) trip.

About Cascade Mountain

Cascade Mountain can be found in the Adirondack Mountain range in the United States – an area in New York State known for its impressive peaks. This hike was a great day trip across the border and is easy enough to do in a morning or an afternoon. People can even hike up and stay overnight at the top in a tent – an amazing view for sunset no doubt as the views are 360 degrees!

Cascade Mountain Statistics

• Type: Out & back trail, easy to follow without maps
• Elevation: Approx. 580m
• Time: 3-4 hours
• Distance: 7-7.5km (longer if parked further away)
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Dog-Friendly: Yes (according to All-Trails – requires a leash and clean up after them)
• All Trails Link

Location

• Parking: There is parking immediately beside the trailhead and also a little bit further out along the highway if the lot is full.
• Washrooms: There are no washrooms during the hike, just an outhouse at the beginning of the trail (could be seasonal)
• Check-in: The trail has a check-in area at the beginning of the hike to sign in your details
• Around The Area: In the area (driving distance) there are some cute mountain towns with some restaurants or gas stations to fill up (your car and your backpack with snacks!).
• Google Maps Link

Best Time To Visit

The best time to visit would definitely be FALL! The end of September – mid October (depending on the year) brings the most vibrant colours to this region and makes the view and experience even more incredible. However, summer and late spring would also be great times to visit as the greenery and views are still amazing (we visited late spring at the end of may).

Winter would be beautiful but due to the conditions you would definitely need prior experience to attempt this hike during the winter months and you would want to make sure that all the roads and the trailhead is actually open as sometimes they are closed due to seasonal conditions. Spring I would personally skip as the conditions are a bit uglier (less trees and colours, a lot more mud and slush), however less crowds will be hanging around which is always a plus.

Our Experience Hiking Cascade Mountain

We decided to do the hike on a Sunday of a long weekend, as a day trip from Montreal (combined with a quick stop at Target and Chipotle of course). We ended up not getting to the trailhead until the late afternoon (around 4pm), which left us with just enough time to do the hike before it started to get dark. Another plus of doing it at this time was that there were not that many people along the trail (we maybe ran into 10 people max) AND there was plenty of parking.

We stepped off and the incline began almost immediately. Whilst it wasn’t a super steep incline, it was pretty consistent with not many flat parts. Although there weren’t many trail markers, it was really easy to follow the trail without the maps (but I always have my all trails route open just incase). The bugs were immediately getting at us as we started to hike as the majority of the hike is through forested areas. The majority of the hike until you get about 15 minutes away from the main viewpoint is under tree cover and not too exciting. There were a few areas which require a little bit of careful navigation around the rocks – not quite bouldering / scrambling but a little more technical.

We finally reached what we thought was the viewpoint. As we didn’t do a ton of research before choosing this hike, we didn’t exactly know what to expect – it was a last minute trip so a close hike that was highly rated and not too long was an easy choice! The first opening of the hike was stunning but seemed like it couldn’t be the end of the hike – although AMAZING it didn’t have that viewpoint feeling to it. So we snapped a few shots and continued on the trail we eventually found.

Now, when we actually reached the viewpoint it was obvious – THIS, is why this hike is so popular. The view is 360 degrees and goes on for what seems like forever. With the small lakes and roads to one side, and the rolling hills full of green trees to the other side, the views were something else. We spent about 30 minutes at the top snapping photos at ALL angles and different views and just taking in the views we hiked up to see.

After we were done soaking it all in, we decided to head back down to make sure that we didn’t get stuck hiking in the dark as we hadn’t planned and didn’t bring any colder weather gear or headlamps. The hike on the way down is for the most part extremely easy, except the few points that are a little bit more technical and require some careful footing. It will be WAY quicker on the way down.

Do NOT Forget

• Sunscreen: The top area is completely exposed so you will need sunscreen.
• Bugspray: This was super important – TONS of bugs on this trail!
• Water: At minimum 1 L per person, but we recommend more.
• Snacks: If you plan on enjoying the view at the top with a snack!
• Hiking Shoes: Depending on the weather, some spots can be super muddy and wet. With the incline areas as well, make sure to bring appropriate footwear.
• Camera: The shots here were all shot on my Sony A6400 with different lens variations and made the pictures SO much better than just with my iPhone.
• Layers: You are hiking up to an exposed area – if it’s a windy or rainy day then it will be cold at the top!

& More!

We LOVED this hike and hope you will too! If you’re looking for more, before sure to check out our other blog posts (TONS on different hikes around the world) and our thatch page for more travel information & guides.