ADK High Peaks Views and Difficulty Rankings

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Gothics, Pyramid, and Sawteeth from Basin

 

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Views and difficulty numeric rankings are based on a scale of 1-10, 10 representing the best views or hike of greater difficulty.  Instead of trying to create a list of "best to worse", which I find impossible to do with 46 of anything, I simply ranked them based on my impression of their views and the difficulty of the hike (to the summit from the nearest trail head).  Difficulty is determined partly by distance with more emphasis/weight placed on elevation gain.  Views are a combination of items, from degree of panoramic to interesting local features.  In some cases a panoramic is blocked by a large mountain (like Marcy from Skylight), which hinders some of the views.  In other cases, like Gothics' Pyramid sub-peak, the views are limited but remarkable.  It's important to remember that the peaks were ranked against each other.  Easier peaks to climb, when compared to a 10, get a much lower rating.  No peak is an easy climb, and despite some peaks having no views they are still an enjoyable hike for their beauty along the trial.  I tried to take such nuances into consideration.

If you click on each mountain you will be brought to a hike description page, briefly explaining the rank it received.  The intent of this page is not to be a substitute for the extensive work found on sites such as DAKS46 (formerly Adirondack Journey, R.I.P Joel).  My hope is to provide a quick reference, nothing more.  This is subjective work and your mileage may vary.  On any given day an "easy" peak could be a life altering experience (poor weather, fatigue, injury, etc).  So be safe.

 

Order by height Height Description Links Picture Links Views Difficulty Date  (first climbed)
1 5344' Marcy Marcy (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) W 10 9 03-20-04
2 5114' Algonquin Algonquin (2) (3) (4) (5) W 10 7 02-29-04
3 4960' Haystack Haystack (2) (3) (4) 9 10 06-26-04
4 4926' Skylight Skylight (2) (3) W 9 10 01-17-04
5 4876' Whiteface Whiteface (2) 6 8 05-16-04
6 4857' Dix Dix (2) (3) 8 8 05-29-04
7 4840' Gray Gray (2) 6 9 09-11-04
8 4840' Iroquois Iroquois (2) (3) W 9 8 07-11-04
9 4827' Basin Basin (2) (3) 8 9 06-26-04
10 4736' Gothics Gothics (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (8) (9) W 10 8 08-02-03
11 4714' Colden Colden (2) (3) W 8 8 09-11-04
12 4627' Giant Giant (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) W 8 6 10-25-03
13 4620' Nippletop Nippletop (3) W 7 8 06-05-04
14 4607' Santanoni Santanoni (2) (3) 7 8 08-07-04
15 4606' Redfield Redfield (2) 7 8 09-10-04
16 4580' Wright Wright (2) W 8 5 07-11-04
17 4515' Saddleback Saddleback (2) (3) (4) W 6 7 06-26-04
18 4442' Panther Panther (2) (3) 7 7 08-07-04
19 4427' Tabletop Tabletop (2) (3) W 5 7 10-09-04
20 4420' Rocky Ridge Rocky Ridge (2) (3) W 7 9 07-24-04
21 4405' Macomb Macomb (2) (3) (4) W 8 7 05-29-04
22 4400' Armstrong Armstrong (2) (3) (4) (6) W 7 7 08-02-03
23 4400' Hough Hough (2) (3) 7 8 05-29-04
24 4361' Seward Seward (2) 5 8 07-03-04
25 4360' Marshall Marshall (2) (3) (4) (5) 7 7 09-12-04
26 4340' Allen Allen (2) 8 10 10-02-04
27 4240' Big Slide Big Slide (2) W 9 6 09-06-04
28 4240' Esther Esther (2) 4 6 05-16-04
29 4185' Upper Wolfjaw Upper Wolfjaw (2) (3) (4) 6 6 08-03-03
30 4175' Lower Wolfjaw Lower Wolfjaw (2) (3) (4) W 5 5 08-03-03
31 4166' Street Street (2) (3)  W 4 6 08-28-04
32 4161' Phelps Phelps (2) (3) (#46/46) W 6 3 10-09-04
33 4140' Donaldson Donaldson (2) (3) 6 8 07-03-04
34 4120' Seymour Seymour (2) 6 8 07-03-04
35 4100' Sawteeth Sawteeth (2) (3) (4) W 7 6 06-13-04
36 4098' Cascade Cascade (2) (4) (#1/46) W 8 1 03-15-03
37 4060' South Dix/Carson South Dix/Carson (2) (3) 5 8 05-29-04
38 4059' Porter Porter (2) (3) W 7 2 01-01-04
39 4057' Colvin Colvin (2) 7 5 06-05-04
40 4040' Emmons Emmons (2) (3) 4 8 07-03-04
41 4020' Dial Dial (2) W 5 6 09-19-04
42 4012' East Dix/Grace East Dix/Grace (2) (3) 7 8 09-04-04
43 3960' Blake Blake (2) 2 6 06-05-04
44 3960' Cliff Cliff (2) 3 8 09-10-04
45 3895' Nye Nye (2)  W 1 5 08-28-04
46 3820' Couchsachraga Couchsachraga (2) (3) 3 10 08-07-04
 

 

Other Hikes in the High Peaks Area:

Adirondack High Peaks Ice Climbing December 31, 2011 / January 1 & 2, 2012

Adirondack High Peaks Rock Climbing Trip  May 19 and 20, 2012

Adirondack Mountain Reserve February 25, 2017

ADK Forum Weekend #3 01-07/08/09-05

Ampersand 03-25-05

Ampersand 07-09-06

Avalanche Pass and Marcy Dam 10-08-04

Baxter Mountain January 9, 2010

Blueberry Mtn 03-22-08

Chapel Pond Canyon Ice Climb December 24, 2010

Chapel Pond, Hoffman Notch Ice Climbing  January 28 & 29, 2012

Duck Hole, Santanoni, Panther, Couchsachraga 05-27/28/29/30-05

Haystack Mt 11-25-07

Hoffman Notch Ice Climbing  February 5, 2012

Hopkins Mountain February 20, 2011

Hopkins Mountain  November 3, 2013

Hurricane, Lake Placid area 01-01/02-06

Hurricane Mt 07-22-07

Hurricane Mt February 21, 2010

Indian Head and Gill Brook 08-07-05

Jay Mountain  November 30, 2013

Jay Mountain July 29, 2017

John's Brook and Roaring Brook Falls  06-07-03

Moose and McKenzie 07-08-06

Noonmark 12-12-04

Noonmark and Round 06-18-06

Noonmark 02-16-08

Noonmark Mt  March 22, 2015

Noonmark and Round Mountains July 17, 2016

Northville/Placid Trail (to Moose Pond) 07-05-03

Ouluska Pass, Duck Hole 05-25/26/27/28-07

Owl's Head Lookout June 25, 2016

Owl's Head Mountain June 13, 2010

Pitchoff Mountain, Barkeater Cliffs 08-16/17-08

Pyramid Peak, Gothics 08-25-05

Raquette River and Lower Falls 05-07-05

Raquette River retaining wall construction 08-17/18-07

Round Mountain, Noonmark September 25, 2010

Snow Mountain May 21, 2016

Split Rock Falls May 11, 2014

Stony Creek, Stony Pond, Ampersand Brook 07-02-05

Upper Washbowl, Roger's Rock June 18 and 19, 2011

Wallface, The Diagonal July 2, 2011

 

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Photo Journal by Kevin Heckeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
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