Cascade Mountain Hike, Adirondacks

Basic Information

Day 1 of our Lake Placid get-away

Link to AllTrails website for Cascade Mountain

Date of hike: 08/26/2021

Difficulty level: hard

Distance: 4.4 miles round trip

Elevation: 4,098 feet

Elevation gain: 1,902 feet

Location: Lake Placid, Keene, Essex County, NY, Adirondack Mountains

About Cascade Mountain

Cascade Mountain, the thirty-sixth tallest peak in the Adirondack Mountains, is often considered one of the easiest, shortest, and the most frequently climbed peaks of the 46ers. It is recognized as having one of the best summits views in the Adirondacks, from which one can see 360 degree views of about two-thirds of the 46ers, Lake Placid, and Lake Champlain.

The mountain derives its name from a series of waterfalls on a brook near its base. The lake it flows into and the pass between Cascade and Pitchoff mountains also bear the name Cascade.

Cascade Mountain is often hiked in conjunction with Porter Mountain, which adds about an extra 1.5 miles to the round trip.

Cascade Mountain has a bare summit due to a 1903 wildfire that burnt most of the vegetation and caused the soil to erode.

The terrain in steep, muddy, and rocky.

Our Impressions

After 5.5 hours of driving for me and 7 hours of driving for Sheldon, this mountain was a great way to get our muscles moving. Despite its reputation as the easiest mountain of the 46ers, ascending it is no easy task. It is an extremely challenging and worthwhile experience with incredible summit views. Be ready to step into lots of mud. Hiking sticks are a must here. On the return trip, we even made friends with a local toad, who became the lead actor in our last video.

Since this was our driving day, we started the hike a bit late in the day so we decided not to visit Porter Mountain to avoid catching darkness on our descent.