Every Recommendation You Need to Know Before Hiking Cascade and Porter High Peaks
Cascade and Porter are probably the most well-known high peaks in the Adirondack Mountains. Also, being apart of the Adirondack 46er Challenge. They are by far the easiest high peaks to climb. And they are located near Lake Placid, New York. I have hiked both these peaks multiple times, both in the summer and once in the winter. All times, the views have been amazing. In this article, you will read helpful hints, recommendations, trail reports, and more.
Lastly, in this post, you will read about cascade and porter trails, cascade and porter winter hike, cascade and porter time, cascade and porter mountain hike, cascade location, how long to hike cascade and porter, cascade and porter hike, cascade and porter parking, and more.
This post is all about Cascade and Porter.
Cascade and Porter :
Cascade Location
To get to these mountains, if coming from the capital region of New York, you will get on Interstate 87 North. You will get off on Exit 30 going towards Keene, Lake Placid and Whiteface. Then take a left onto Route 73 going towards Whiteface and Lake Placid. In about 2.2 miles you will come to an intersection where you want to stay left towards Whiteface, Lake Placid, and Keene/Keene Valley. Then you will continue straight for 13 miles. Again, continue left onto Route 73 towards the High Peaks/Lake Placid area. In about 6.6 miles you will see pull off areas to park for Cascade.
There’s not really a sign for Cascade and Porter until you’re at the trailhead. However, if you follow your GPS, it will take you right to the exact parking lot for these peaks. There is another pull off area to park, a little bit before the actual trailhead for Cascade and Porter.
Cascade and Porter Parking
You will have to park your car on the side of the road. The trailhead is on the left side of the road and there is some parking on that side, again this is where your GPS should route you to. However, again, before the trail there is more parking on the right side of Route 73. The trailhead is on the left side of the road and a little further down, so, you will have to cross Route 73 and walk up the road to get to the trailhead.
You will also have to walk over the guard rail to get to the trailhead, but there will be a big sign right before where you have to walk over the guard rail. It can be kind of tricky finding where the trailhead starts. However, there’s usually enough people hiking Cascade, that if you follow everyone else, you will be fine.
Cascade and Porter Mountain Hike
Okay from the trailhead, you will follow the trail markers all the way to the summit. Like I said above, this trail is highly trafficked, so it’s very easy to follow and well marked. Thus, you should have no issues, hiking this hike to the summit. It is very hard to get lost on this trail. Again, there are so many people on this trail, if you have any questions, you can always ask someone or you can bring a map. I like to follow AllTrails.
Usually, I will download the offline version the night before and use it once I get to the trailhead. I will say even though AllTrails says once you download something offline it will work offline (or in airplane mode), sometimes it’s finicky and won’t work as well. I especially find this happening on the longer trails and it does drain your battery. So, I always bring a portable charger, but you won’t have to worry about this on Cascade and Porter.
Anyways, once you are on the trail, after about 2 miles, you will come to an intersection where you can continue on to Cascade or you can go to your right and go to Porter. Now, if you are only wanting to hike for the views, I still suggest going to Porter. However, you don’t have to hike to the actual summit, there is a rock boulder at one point that you will come to, and when you walk around it, you will see an awesome view. It’s definitely worth the extra .3 to walk to.
Now, if you are interested in becoming a 46er, then you have to hike Porter in addition to Cascade. I suggest hiking to Porter first because it takes more time and effort to get to. Then after Porter, you will hike back the same way you came. Once you get to that intersection, you will turn right onto Cascade. Then in about .1 of mile, you will be at the summit of Cascade.
Cascade and Poter Trails
Once you get to the intersection, Cascade is a rock top summit and you will walk the rest of the hike on rock. There are yellow markers painted on the rock that you can follow to get to the official summit of Cascade. They might be kind of faded, but again, if you follow the other hikers, you will get to the official summit of Cascade. The summit of Cascade is huge, so there’s plenty of places to find your own spot and chill at.
The view on Cascade is really nice. Like I said, it is a rock top summit, very similar to Mount Mansfield, in Vermont. Actually, the whole hike is very comparable to Mount Mansfield in Vermont. The only difference is, Cascade and Porter are accessible all year round. Which are all reasons why they are always SUPER crowded. Which is why I suggest hiking Cascade and Porter either on a weekday or in the winter. However, regardless if it’s in the winter or summer on a weekend, they will still be super crowded. I would try and get to those trailheads on Saturdays, no later than 7:00am. On Sundays, if you get there by 8am, you should be fine. Lastly on weekdays (non-holidays) if you get there by 8:30-9am, you’ll be good.
Cascade and Porter Time
A lot of people ask, “how long to hike cascade and porter,” and I would say, it takes about 4 hours to hike. This includes break time and is the time I recommend for people in good hiking shape (give or take an hour to half an hour). In total mileage, if you hike both peaks, it’s about 5.5-6 miles round trip. If you don’t hike porter, then cascade alone, is about 4.5-5 miles long.
Cascade and Porter Winter Hike
These two peaks are actually great hikes to tackle on in the winter. They are short, easy to follow, and have amazing views, which are all the reasons why I highly recommend hiking these in the winter. Just make sure you have the great gear, you know how to keep warm, and you know how to keep your water unthawed (this article will give you tips for these).
Actually, one of my favorite all time views is right after the intersection of Cascade and Porter, once you go to the right a little bit on your way to Porter, there will be a big rock boulder. If you climb on this boulder, go just walk around it, you will find one of the best views in the Adirondacks. And I like it better in the winter because of the snowcapped peaks. I think it’s so much prettier and more majestic with the snow.
Overall Thoughts of Cascade and Porter Hike
Overall, I think these peaks are great and worth the hike if you haven’t already climbed them. Also, BY FAR they are the easiest peaks to start the Adirondack 46 High Peak Challenge with. The challenge becomes MUCH harder after these two, they really are such a tease to the 46er challenge. With all that being said, thank you so much for reading, take care and get hiking!
