How to Hike Nippletop Mountain and Dial High Peaks
Dial and Nippletop Mountains are apart of the Adirondack 46er Challenge in upstate New York. Specifically, they are located in Keene, NY. All the high peaks in New York are truly beautiful and totally worth it if you are able to hike them. Nippletop Mountain and Dial Peak are so beautiful, they are difficult hikes but so worth the view. I will say their summits are pretty small compared to other high peaks, so that and that it’s a tough hike are the only drawbacks about these two mountains. Otherwise, they are amazing.
In this article, you will read about Nippletop Mountain hike along with Dial, Nippletop Mountain view, Nippletop and Dial, Nippletop and Dial mountain, Nippletop Mountain summit, Nippletop and Dial mountain loop, Nippletop elevation, Nippletop Mountain directions, Nippletop Mountain hike, Nippletop Mountain Adirondacks, Nippletop Mountain camping, and much more.
This article is all about Nippletop Mountain.
Nippletop Mountain:
Nippletop Mountain Directions
Dial and Nippletop are located in Keene, NY. For parking, you can park in the same parking area, as Gothics and Pyramid. You will park at the Ausable Club parking area or the AMR. You will need reservations to park here from May 1st through October 31st). Parking reservations are free, they’re just in place to crowd control. All these trails are located along the same path way (at the Ausable Club), only Dial and Nippletop are not as far down along the road as Gothics and Pyramid are.
To start, you will get on Interstate 87 either going North or South (depending on where you are in relation to Exit 30). You will get off on Exit 30 towards Keene Valley, Lake Placid and Whiteface. If coming from 87 North you will take a left onto Route 73 from Exit 30 or a right if coming south on 87. In about 2.3 miles keep left onto US-9 North towards Whiteface and Lake Placid. Continue straight on Route 73 for about 5.4 miles. Then, you will take a left onto Ausable Road (this road is tricky to see, it’s right at the bottom of a big hill). You can find exact directions here and click the button that says directions.
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Getting to the Trailhead
So, once you reach the parking lot, you will have to show the parking attendant your reservation or give them the last name that your reservation is under. Then after you park, you will have to walk about .5 of a mile to the Ausable club. You will walk past the parking attendant (or you can ask them where to walk to) and continue straight on the road, past the golf course. There will be signs once you reach the golf course, informing you which direction to go for the various hiking trails.
When I first hiked Gothics and Pyramid, I felt so lost, because until you walk past the golf course, there are no signs telling you where the peaks are. And the Ausable Club is all private (except for hikers, which I didn’t realize until I saw the different signs), so I felt very uncomfortable continuing to walk, when I didn’t even know where I was walking to (or if I was allowed). But, I kept walking and eventually was directed to the hiking trails via the various signs.
Once you walk past the golf course, like I said, you will see signs for Indian Head, and other hiking trails, and you will follow that. Then you will walk to an engraved gate, saying AMR. Here is the hiker registration area, where you will have to sign in and show your reservation or give another attendant the last name that your reservation is under. Once you walk through the engraved gate, you will walk on a dirt road for about .5-1 a mile, until you see your cut off for Dial and Nippletop summits via the Leech trail. I hiked these two via the Leach Trail, however, I do not recommend hiking it this way. Later on, I will talk about hiking Dial and Nippletop via the Gill Brook and Elk Pass Trails (this is the way I recommend hiking the two).
Nippletop Mountain View ↑
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Getting to the Leach Trailhead
Once you are on the Leach trail, you will walk for about 1.7 miles, then come to a lookout area. You will see another sign, saying Dial is about 2 miles away, and Nippletop will be about 4.2 miles away. So, yes this is a LONG day of hiking, so be prepared. When I came back to my car (I also had to park about .5 of a mile farther away), I had walked 16.5 miles. If you park closer than where I was, it will probably only be about 15.5 miles. Also, it is a pretty steep incline. It really doesn’t flatten out, until after Dial’s summit, so, be prepared for lots of uphill.
To prepare for this hike, I brought, a 3 liter Camelbak of water (here is the bladder I used, and here you can find different backpacks to use for your day hikes). I also brought a HUGE bag of trail mix, MANY cliff bars, and three mini Gatorades. Also, it was starting to get cold, when I hiked these. Thus, I brought some gloves, a hat, a rain jacket (always), long sleeve shirt, lighter sweatshirt, and a thicker one (I tied around my waist). Also, I recommend bringing some sort of portable charger, for these longer hikes.
Nippletop Mountain Camping (Gill Brook area)
This is a quick side-note, if you want to hike the entire range, which also includes Mount Colvin and Blake Peak, you can camp at the Ausable Club. To camp here, you will follow Lake Road (the road you walk on after passing through the engraved AMR gate) until you get signs for the Gill Brook trail. You will turn to your left onto the signs for the Gill Brook Trail. You will follow this trail until you get to a trail split and there will be signs with little tents indicating that you can camp here. This is where you can camp in the AMR property.
Getting to Nippleptop Mountain
Once you arrive at Dial’s summit, you will see an awesome view of the surrounding mountains, it’s very similar to the view of Big Slide. Also, it is easy to miss this summit, because it is not marked. It will be on your right, and it’s basically just a huge rock boulder. Thus, only about five people maximum can fit on this summit. It’s also very windy, but really cool.
Okay, once you’ve spent some time at Dial, Nippletop is about 2.4 miles further down. Okay, here is my little story part. When I first attempted climbing these peaks, I could only do Dial on my first attempt. Because, once I got to Dial, some thunder decided to roll through. So, I got a little nervous and kicked into high gear back to my car. Luckily, I was okay. And when I tried to hike these peaks again, it was smooth sailing. Once you make it to Nippletop, you will just re-trace your steps down that you took up. Thus, this is an out and back hike. However, there is an alternative way to hike these two peaks with much less elevation gain.
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Alternative Routes : Bear Den via Gill Brook & Elk Pass
Another way to hike this mountain is via Gill Brook Trail and Elk Pass Trail. This way, you will complete the two as a loop hike rather than an out and back. You will also save your legs about 1,000ft of elevation gain. You will start at the same area, the AMR parking lot, then walk to the AMR gate. Then, stay on this road (Lake Road) for about 2 miles, then take the Gill Brook Trail cut-off on your left. You will stay on the Gill Brook Trail for the next 2.2 miles, then continue straight (slight left) onto Elk Pass. You will stay on Elk Pass for the next 1.2 miles. Then, you will come to the intersection of Leach and Elk Pass trails, you want to continue right onto Nippletop summit. You will reach the summit in about .2 of a mile.
After Nippletop, everything is downhill, which is nice. This is where you will start your loop hike. After Nippletop, you will hike back down to the Elk Pass and Leach Trail intersections. You want to go right onto the Leach Trail. From here, you will continue straight for 1.5 miles then on your left will be a big rock boulder, this is the summit of Dial. After Dial, you will continue onto the Leach Trail for 3.3 miles. Then, you will come back onto Lake Road and eventually the AMR gate. Finally, back to the AMR parking lot and your car.
Overall Thoughts
The summits of both these peaks are pretty small. Because of this, I think it’s better to hike these on a weekday, where it won’t be as crowded. Also, Dial is literally just a rock boulder as the summit, so again, it’s a small summit space. But both these trails are definitely worth your time, both have superb views. And that wraps up our information about Nippletop and Dial Mountain. Thank you for reading and I hope this information was helpful to you.
In this article, you read about Nippletop mountain hike and Dial, Nippletop Mountain view, Nippletop Mountain camping, Nippletop Mountain difficulty, Nippletop Mountain ADK, Nippletop Mountain NY, and much more.
