How to Hike New York’s 2nd Highest Mountain, Algonquin Peak, Plus Wright, and Iroquois
So much to say about these peaks! So, let’s get started! Also, all three of these peaks are apart of the 46er High Peak Challenge (you can find more information about this challenge, here). Also, in this article, you will learn about, Algonquin peak elevation, Algonquin peak difficulty, how to add Wright and Iroquois Peak, Algonquin peak hike time, more about all of the 46 High Peaks, and much more!
This post is all about Algonquin Peak.
Algonquin Peak:
New York’s 2nd Highest Peak
As the heading says, Algonquin is New York’s second highest peak, standing at, 5,114ft. This peak, plus Wright, and Iroquois peak, are no joke! Mount Marcy (New York’s highest peak), is 5,344ft in elevation, so once you do Algonquin, you’re not that far from the highest. Iroquois comes in at New York’s 8th highest, at 4,840ft and Wright, at 4,580ft in elevation, being New York’s 16th highest. So yes, once you tackle these peaks, you will feel VERY accomplished!
How to Get to Algonquin Peak Trailhead
These peaks are located in Lake Placid, New York, at the Adirondack lodge. You will get on Interstate 87 North or South (depending where you are coming from), and stay here until exit 30. You will take exit 30, then take a left (or right, if coming southbound) onto route 73. In about 2-3 miles, you will come to an intersection, that you want to stay left, towards Lake Placid/Whiteface mountain.
{Related Post : 46 High Peaks}
You will stay on Route 73 for 13 miles, then you will come upon another slight intersection. For this intersection, you want to take a SLIGHT left towards the High Peaks, you will see a small sign for this on your right, informing you to stay left. For the next 11 miles, you will stay straight, then you will turn left onto Adirondack Loj Road. You will drive all the way down this road for about 4.7 miles, then come to an attendant window. It is $15 to park here, so I would check the weather before you drop the money, so you know it’s worth it (aka, try not to hike on a cloudy/rainy day).
Okay, once you have paid the attendant, you will proceed to the parking area, which is on your left. There are a couple different lots, and you can park where you feel. They have bathrooms and an information center to your right, if you need to do any of that. Once you park, you will walk towards the first parking lot, and come upon the trail registration/trail head. You can then write yourself and group in for the day, weekend, or however long your stay is. Then, you will walk straight onto the trail.
{Related Post : Mount Colden}
Hiking to Algonquin Peak
Once on the trail, you will walk for about .7 of a mile, where you want to follow the signs straight for Algonquin. Then continue walking for about 2 miles, and then you will see some more signs. You will see on a rock, a W (or wiggle) for Wright, SLIGHTLY to your left and straight for Algonquin. It’s very hard to see the sign for Algonquin on the rock, but there is a white sign where Algonquin is written vertically with an arrow pointing straight ahead.
If you want to solely hike Algonquin peak, then you will continue straight. However, if you wish to hike Wright and Iroquois peak then verge to your left towards Wright peak. Even if you aren’t completing all the 46 High Peaks, I still HIGHLY recommend hiking ALL three peaks. ALL of them have BEAUTIFUL summits, thus, you won’t be disappointed!
Adding Wright and Iroquois Peak
You will walk about .4 of a mile, and then reach your summit! All of these peaks are rock tops, so if this freaks you out, I would not advice doing any of these. But if not, then I HIGHLY recommend, because they are all AWESOME!! There are a couple difficult rock scrambles to climb, but overall, very manageable with the proper shoes/gear, and trekking poles if you want (here is a link to some great hiking shoes, and trekking poles).
When I hiked these peaks, Wright was all in the clouds, and the skies didn’t open up until I reached Algonquin, and it was BEAUTIFUL! Algonquin really does deserve all the love it gets, because it really is something special!
Getting to Iroquois Peak
After I spent a decent amount of time at Algonquin, I headed to Iroquois. Iroquois is pretty tricky to find, I had to ask several people, if I was going the right way, and if I was finally, indeed, at the top. From Algonquin, you will walk down the other side of the mountain/slope, and follow the yellow markings on the rocks, and the different mounds of rocks, or the cairns.
When you reach the bottom of the mountain/slope, you will come upon a more enclosed area. There will be a sign saying to go left, but you want to go RIGHT for Iroquois. I repeat, you want to go RIGHT for Iroquois! If you go left, as the sign says, you will end up at a lake, and be even farther from where you parked! Also, when you go right, the path is VERY NARROW, honestly, only one person can walk through it at at time.
Thus, it will seem like the wrong way, but I PROMISE, it’s the right way to Iroquois. Iroquois is a REALLY COOL peak! It’s often overlooked, because it’s much harder to find, but as long as you ask around, you’ll find it. And it’s SO WORTH it! I would say it’s about a mile to a mile and a half from Algonquin. Also, I found I had passed Boundary Peak as well, so really you will climb four peaks from this hike!
{Related Post : Mount Marcy, New York’s Highest Peak}
Hiking Back & Overall Impressions
To get back to Algonquin, you just follow the same trail that you took to get to Iroquois and Boundary Peaks (just retrace your steps). When I followed the Algonquin peak alltrails, it said, I hiked about 10.2 miles. However, my phone recorded 13.1 miles. I feel my phone was more accurate, especially, if you climb all four peaks. I would allow yourself at least 8 hours to complete all four summits. Algonquin peak elevation on its own is about 3,000ft of elevation gain. However, doing all four peaks is about 4,300ft of elevation gain.
However, if you are just planning on climbing Algonquin, I would allow yourself 5-6 hours (you’ll probably want to spend some time at the summit). On it’s own, Algonquin peak hike is about 9-10 miles. I arrived at the lodge around 7:45 am, on a Monday, and didn’t get back to my car until 5:30 pm. I also spent about a hour to an hour and half all together, at the different summits.
Overall, hiking all 3 of these peaks, were not too bad. However, I was in really good hiking shape when I hiked these peaks and expecting a lot worse. As far as difficulty level goes, these three peaks are not too bad, ONLY compared to other 46ers. Now, compared to other Adirondack hikes, Algonquin and adding these two other peaks is a DIFFICULT hike.
Preparation for hiking Algonquin, Iroquois, and Wright peaks
As far as preparation goes, I brought a rain/wind breaker, which I highly recommend. Even if you hike this trail on a sunny summer day, the summits are usually always VERY windy, so I would bring it just in case. Also, I brought gloves and a hat, and extra long underwear, and a sweatshirt, because when I hiked this trail, it was about 40 degrees up top (Fahrenheit).
In addition, I brought my 3 liter CamelBak (here, is a link to one), 3 cliff bars, 3 mini bottles of Gatorade and a HUGE bag of trail mix with me. I also had a bowl of cereal before I drove to the mountains, and a banana, right before I started hiking. Overall, I had a great time at these peaks, I hope for you, if you decide to hike these summits, you have a WONDERFUL experience too! Thank you so much for reading, and get hiking! Also, here is a video of my Wright, Algonquin, and Iroquois hike.
And that wraps up everything you need to know about Algonquin peak. I hope this article was helpful to you if you plan on hiking Algonquin, and adding all the others. Thank you so much for reading and get out there!
In this post, you learned about Algonquin peak elevation, Algonquin peak difficulty, how to add Wright and Iroquois Peak, Algonquin peak hike time, more about all of the 46 High Peaks, and more!
P.S. If you want to hike 3 other awesome peaks, that are not rock summits, but still about the same distance and difficulty level, try the Tongue Mountain Range! Above is a video of the footage I got, from hiking there!
