I had previously hiked Nun-da-ga-o Ridge and Weston Mountains in a counterclockwise direction, a few years ago. During that trip, I had hoped to hike the Crows as well, but I was running late with time. So a trip back was in order, and I had a beautiful day to hike as well. On my previous trip, I had brought my dog Dingo, so he accompanied me today too.
We arrived at the trailhead at the end of the O'Toole Rd at Crow Clearing at 08:50 and were soon on the trail.
Overall this is a short hike out and back. I logged about .8 miles from the parking area to the summit of Big Crow. Some areas of the trail are steep, but short-lived sections. The summit of Big Crow is at 2,815 feet. There were many views along the way to the summit. The...
I had hiked this for the first time with Cindy and Jim, eventually going back and hiking with my son.
From the beginning, the hike is along an old jeep road through conifers and eventually hardwoods once you get down near the marsh. The trail is overgrown to the width of a foot trail. The trail used to continue straight, where what is now underwater, even in the dead of winter I wouldn't recommend going across the frozen marsh. The three of us did, and one of us broke through, which brought the hike to an end that day.
The trail has been rerouted to the left to the side of the marsh eventually crosses along the bottom. Going left you will cross over a couple of small brook crossings the trail continues straight through it for about...
A group of us planned this hike one year for a New Year's Eve hike. I don't think any of us made the true summit. I realized this when I hiked this as I went a lot further than we did that night.
It's a mostly moderate, 1.2-mile hike to the first summit. It begins at a moderate grade as it passes under a power line, then there's a continuous climb over switchbacks for 0.8 miles, where the Beede Farm Trail comes in on the left. Going straight and work your way up a few steep steps to the first open rock. This first lookout is not the summit — that's a bit farther along the ridge. Past the summit, a lesser-used trail descends to Beede Road in Keene Valley.
2.4 miles round trip
770 feet of elevation gain
This is a nice little hike. You can do the loop hike or as we did up and down the same shorter route. The loop trip is a nice way to go down, nice and easy grade.
The trailhead is off Heart Lake at the Adirondac Loj which is at the end of the Adirondack Loj Rd, which is the first right after the ski jumps coming from Lake Placid.
The trail descends gently from Adirondack Loj Rd down to a road next to Heart Lake. Turn right for 60 yards. and the true start of the trail to Mt. Jo. After 1/4 mile of climb, there is a junction. The Short Trail goes right while the Long trail goes straight. We took the Short Trail, it's steeper and rougher. The trails meet just before the summit, so you have options going up and down. Total distance 1.1...